Pentagon To Reimburse Pakistan $688 Million

In Sign of Normalization, Pentagon to Reimburse Pakistan $688 Million -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon quietly notified Congress this month that it would reimburse Pakistan nearly $700 million for the cost of stationing 140,000 troops on the border with Afghanistan, an effort to normalize support for the Pakistani military after nearly two years of crises and mutual retaliation.

The biggest proponent of putting foreign aid and military reimbursements to Pakistan on a steady footing is the man President Barack Obama is leaning toward naming as secretary of state: Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts. Mr. Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has frequently served as an envoy to Pakistan, including after the killing of Osama bin Laden, and was a co-author of a law that authorized five years and about $7.5 billion of nonmilitary assistance to Pakistan.

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My Comment: Where is the outcry? So much for the U.S. commitment to free this hero.

is Pakistan Serious About Going After Taliban Safe Havens

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, left, walks with U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, after landing at ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 12, 2012. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

U.S. Encouraged By Pakistan Efforts To Go After Terrorists -- CNN

Pakistan is taking steps to try to limit terrorist safe havens inside the lawless western part of that country where various insurgent groups operating in Afghanistan find sanctuary, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Speaking to reporters traveling with him overseas, Panetta said recent meetings between the United States and Pakistan yielded encouraging signs that Pakistan is working on the long-standing problem.

"My sense is that they're in a better place, that they understand their responsibility," Panetta said. "General Kiyani [Pakistan's military chief], in particular, has indicated a willingness to try to put more pressure on the safe havens," Panetta said.

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My Comment: Fool me once .... shame on you. Fool me twice .... shame on me. The fact is that Pakistan has been making these promises for years .... and then they never act on the groups that are causing the chaos and mayhem in Afghanistan. The metric that I am now using that will be proof to me that they are actually serious in following through with their promises is when they release this hero .... but my prediction is that they will not.

U.S. Foreign Aid Is Not Helping To Repair U.S. - Pakistan Relations

US Outspends Islamabad On Flood Relief In Pakistan -- Christian Science Monitor

But instead of helping repair US-Pakistan relations, the flood aid looks like it is feeding into old patterns of distrust between the two countries.

The US government has pledged more money toward this year's flood relief efforts in Pakistan than the country's own government, according to a report this month from the Congressional Research Service.

Floods have devastated swaths of the Pakistani countryside this year. And once again the US is contributing substantial funds, despite strained ties between the two governments and large anti-American street protests.

According to a little noticed detail in a report titled “Pakistan: US Foreign Assistance,” the country's central government has pledged $91 million toward flood relief, a third less than the $134.6 million promised by the US State Department and USAID as of the end of September 2012.

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My Comment: Considering the amount of money involved and the efforts of many .... not a good sign. On the flip side .... many still believe that U.S. foreign aid makes sense.

It Pays To Insult And Ignore U.S. Concerns

Pakistan Freed Of Anti-Terrorism Obligations; U.S. Billions Flow Instead -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has refused for the first time to declare that Pakistan is making progress toward ending alleged military support for Islamic militant groups or preventing al Qaida, the Afghan Taliban or other extremists from staging attacks in Afghanistan.

Even so, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has quietly informed Congress that she’s waived the legal restrictions that would have blocked some $2 billion in U.S. economic and military aid to Pakistan. Disbursing the funds, she said in an official notice, is “important to the national security interests of the United States.”

Clinton’s decision illustrates how far the administration apparently has determined that it must go, after a near-breakdown in relations, to ensure Pakistan’s cooperation in the uphill U.S. effort to prevent Afghanistan collapsing into all-out civil war when American-led international combat forces complete a withdraw by the end of 2014.

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Update: US winks again at Pakistani terror tactics -- The Hindu

My Comment: In the meantime the Pakistan doctor who helped the CIA find Bin Laden and who has repeatedly warned about Pakistan duplicity still remains in jail .... all but forgotten by Hillary Clinton and her ilk.

I need to throw up.

Anti-Drone Protest March In Pakistan

Pakistan's Imran Khan To Lead Anti-Drone Protest March -- BBC

Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan is to lead a march to the tribal areas this weekend to protest against US drone strikes.

The two-day march is due to start in Islamabad on Saturday and end with a rally in South Waziristan which has been a major focus of drone strikes.

However, it is not clear if authorities will allow the rally to take place.

Mr Khan, like many Pakistanis, says the attacks kill large numbers of civilians and foster support for militants.

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More News On Pakistan's Imran Khan To Lead Anti-Drone Protest March

American activists visit Pakistan to join anti-drone march as reports of Taliban threats loom -- Washington Post/AP
Imran Khan plans rally against CIA drone attacks in Pakistan tribal area -- Washington Post
PTI activists gear up for South Waziristan march -- The Nation
Pakistani Taliban TTP warns Imran Khan ahead of drones march -- The Guardian
Pakistani Taliban warn Imran Khan over 'peace march' into Waziristan -- The Independent
Taliban threaten to attack Imran’s anti-drone rally -- Times of India

One More Reason To Stop Military Aid To Pakistan

Case For Pakistan Aid Gets More Complicated After Zardari's Remarks -- The Hill

Even lawmakers who support engaging with Pakistan were left shaking their heads this week after that country’s leader demanded that the United Nations make blasphemy illegal.

The disconnect between how the U.S. and Pakistan view the world won on full display in speeches by the two countries leaders, and it wasn’t lost on U.S. lawmakers who have long called for defunding aid to Pakistan.

As a result, it could become tougher for the administration to justify support for the strategically vital country.

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My Comment: How the U.S. State department can continue to make the case that we should provide aid to Pakistan while at the same time Pakistan is demanding that the U.S. adopt blasphemy laws is completely beyond me.

Did You Get My Fax?

Reuters

CIA Sends ISI Monthly Faxes About Drone Attacks: WSJ -- DAWN

About once a month the Central Intelligence Agency sends a fax to a general at Pakistan’s intelligence service outlining broad areas where the US intends to conduct strikes with drone aircraft, according to US officials.

The Pakistanis, who in public oppose the program, don’t respond.

This was stated in a report published by the Wall Street Journal.

The fax would not mention any specific target but outline the boundaries of the airspace the drones would use—large areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border referred to as flight “boxes” because they are shaped like three-dimensional rectangles in the sky, the report stated.

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More News On The CIA Sending Sending Monthly Faxes To Pakistan's ISI On Drone Attacks

U.S. Believes It Has Pakistan's 'Tacit Consent' For Drone Strikes, 'WSJ' Reports -- NPR
U.S. Unease Over Drone Strikes -- Wall Street Journal
CIA sends monthly fax to ISI outlining drone attack plans -- International News
US Assumes Pakistan Gives ‘Tacit Consent’ for Drone Strikes -- Antiwar.com

Anti-U.S. Riots Sweep Pakistan

At Least 18 Dead In Pakistan Anti-American Rioting Friday -- L.A. Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Fiery anti-U.S. demonstrations swept through Pakistan's capital and several other cities Friday as thousands of people furious over an anti-Islam film privately produced in America clashed with police in one of the worst waves of violence to hit the nation in recent years. In Islamabad, protesters turned the city’s tree-lined boulevards and avenues into a battle zone as they toppled freight containers set up as barriers and pelted riot police with rocks while unsuccessfully trying to storm a heavily guarded enclave housing the U.S. embassy and other diplomatic missions. Across the country, at least 18 people were killed in the violence and more than 100 more injured.

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More News On Today's Anti_U.S. Riots In Pakistan

Deadly Violence Breaks Out in Pakistan as Public Holiday Begins -- New York Times
Death toll rises in Pakistan video protests -- Al Jazeera
Death Toll Rises in Pakistan Protests -- Wall Street Journal
Pakistani officials say 16 people killed in protests against anti-Islam film, 12 in Karachi -- Washington Post/AP
Sweeping Pakistan: Wave of violent protests fueled by anti-Islam film -- Christian Science Monitor
Thirteen killed in Pakistan protests against anti-Islam film -- The Telegraph
More than dozen killed in Pakistan protests over anti-Islam video -- CBS/AP
13 killed, 195 hurt in Pakistan anit-Islam film protests: officials -- Hindustan Times/AFP
Pakistan film protests: Ten die in Karachi and Peshawar -- BBC
Protests Erupt Across Pakistan Over Video -- Voice of America
Pakistan 'Day of Love' protests over anti-Islam film descend into deadly violence -- NBC
Pakistan Protests Over Islam Film Target U.S. Missions -- Bloomberg
Protesters march towards US consulates in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar -- The International News

My Comment: These are government sanctioned protests ....and not surprisingly they have gotten out of hand.

Pakistan Is Not A U.S. Ally

US-Pakistan Tensions: Time To Stop Pretending We Are Allies? -- Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor

Pakistan's former ambassador to the US suggests that American attempts to steer Pakistani policy with billions of dollars are only delaying a needed divorce and reset of relations.

Barack Obama says Pakistan is the country that most often keeps him awake at night. Husain Haqqani says he has the answer to the president’s insomnia.

The former Pakistani ambassador to Washington says the two countries should face the fact that their goals and priorities are not going to converge any time soon, and so should drop their stormy partnership to forge a “post-alliance future” based on reality over expectations and each country’s self-interest.

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My Comment: I have essentially been saying the same thing in this blog for the past few years. Fortunately .... US policy is slowly shifting .... a shift that accelerated when Bin Laden was found near a Pakistani military base, followed by the awareness among many in the U.S. that Pakistan is now siding with certain Afghan Taliban groups by providing them safe havens and the means to conduct military operations against Afghan and U.S. forces ... in short positioning their allies for the day when U.S. forces finally leave.
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U.S. Drone Attacks In Pakistan Are Stopping The Militants

How Drones Changed The Game In Pakistan -- Hussain Nadim, National Interest

Regardless of what the news agencies in Pakistan claim about the negative effects of drone strikes, the weapon is proving to be a game changer for the U.S. war on terrorism. And surprisingly, the Pakistani Army quietly admits to this fact. Just the way Stinger missiles shifted the balance of power in favor of the United States in the 1980s, drones are producing the same results.

The critics of unmanned strikes, who claim that drones are contributing to growing radicalization in Pakistan, haven’t looked around enough—or they would realize that much of the radicalization already was established by the Taliban in the 1990s. The real tragedy is that it is acceptable for the Taliban to radicalize and kill, but it is considered a breach of sovereignty for the United States, in pursuit of those radicalizing Pakistan’s people, to do the same.

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My Comment: Drones are effective for the simple reason that they have made the Taliban's safe havens in Pakistan no longer safe. This has had a profound psychological impact on the battlefield, as well as unleashing a devastating missile impact should the militants choose to ignore them.