Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s visit to China, which he declared his country’s best friend, makes it harder to sell an angry US public on aid to Islamabad, a key US senator said Tuesday. “Frankly, I’m getting tired of it, and I think Americans are getting tired of it as far as shovelling money in there at people who just flat don’t like us,” said Republican Senator James Risch.
Continued aid to Pakistan, Risch argued, was a hard sell to the American people when cash-strapped Washington sent assistance to Islamabad, only to see “the head of Pakistan go to China and… stand up and say ‘you’re our best friend.” His comments came during a US Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on sour US-Pakistan ties in the wake of the Abbottabad raid.
“You have a partner who can seem, as some have said, to be both fire-fighter and arsonist simultaneously,” said Republican Senator Richard Lugar. Jim Jones questioned the judgement of Pakistani leaders – saying, “Logic doesn’t always play a dominant role in decision-making in Islamabad,” but said he hoped they would forcefully cast their lot in with Washington.
Pressed on whether Washington should freeze aid, Jones replied “I would counsel against what might be a very tempting thing to do” and warned against “long-term consequences” for US interests in the region.
