Senator Richard Lugar says the US effort to aid Pakistan named after him and two other lawmakers has not had enough time to achieve one of its main goals: dispel Pakistani mistrust of the United States. Few others in Congress seem keen to give it more time or money.
Following US accusations that some in the Pakistani government have aided anti-US militants, Congress is re-evaluating its 2009 promise to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to a total of $7.5 billion over five years. The non-military aid came on top of billions in security assistance Washington has provided since 2001, and is now rethinking as well.
"Our message to Pakistan is: We can't help you unless you help us," said Senator Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate foreign aid appropriations subcommittee. In an interview with Reuters, Graham said he had been a supporter of Kerry-Lugar-Berman, but "there's been a turn there. ... We're not writing checks without being able to identify progress."
Comments
Comments are closed.