Pakistan and the United States have been sparring over Islamabad’s claims for financial compensation for military operations against militants, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The report comes as relations between the two anti-terror allies have frayed following the killing of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in a US commando operation launched without Islamabad’s knowledge.
The newspaper, citing internal Pentagon documents, said Washington has quietly rejected more than 40 per cent of over $3.2 billion in claims, filed from January 2009 through June 2010, submitted by Pakistan for military gear, food, water, troop housing and other expenses. The reason, the WSJ says, as Islamabad’s mixed record against militants. American officials say Pakistani claims have been rejected for a number of reasons, including failure to confirm that expenses were incurred in support of the US operations in Afghanistan and the war on terror.
Some US officials also fear that some of the aid is being diverted to the border with Pakistan’s traditional rival, India. Citing the documents and US officials, the WSJ said Pakistan had submitted dubious claims or sought funding for actions that Washington did not see as related to the so-called war on terror. In one case, the Pakistani army sought $50 million for ‘hygiene and chemical expenses’, of which Washington agreed to pay just $8 million, the newspaper said.
Similarly, Pakistan’s Joint Staff – the country’s top military brass – requested $580,000 in 2009 to cover food, medical services, vehicle repair and other expenses, but the US paid nothing. In another case, the United States paid millions to refurbish four helicopters to help Pakistan transport troops to the rugged mountains along the Afghanistan border where it is battling Taliban and al Qaeda militants.
But Pakistan diverted three of the aircraft to peacekeeping duties in Sudan, operations funded by the United Nations, the WSJ said, citing US officials. Secret diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show that US officials were taken aback by Pakistani claims as early as 2006, including a $26 million charge for barbed wire and pickets, and for almost $70 million in radar maintenance although there is no enemy air threat related to the war on terror.
The newspaper says US denial rates have climbed from a low of 1.6 per cent in 2005 to 38 per cent in 2008 and 44 per cent in 2009. Pakistani officials deny they are trying to bilk the United States and insist that the increased US scrutiny has offended Islamabad, the Journal said. “People have to give a receipt for every cup of tea they drink or every kilometre they drive,” it quoted a Pakistani official as saying.
“There is an increasing belief that [Pakistanis] walk both sides of the road,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, told The Wall Street Journal. She called for a total aid freeze until a credible investigation clears Pakistan of any official complicity in harbouring bin Laden.
According to State Department cables between May 2006 and April 2009, US ambassadors in Islamabad, Ryan Crocker and Anne Patterson, and top military advisers at the embassy wanted to require that future payments must be based on Pakistan’s military performance, behaviour and measurable combat operations rather than on the mere presence of Pakistani troops in the tribal areas.
