Washington has started conditioning the award of billions of dollars in security assistance to Pakistan on whether Islamabad showed progress on a secret scorecard of US objectives to combat al Qaeda and its militant allies, but a Pakistani official said the US had not provided it with any list of new demands for the acquirement of future security assistance.
A Pakistani official, who asked not to be named, said so far the US had not conveyed anything to Pakistan about the conditioning of future security assistance. “They (Americans) have not yet provided us with a new list of demands for the acquirement of aid from Washington in future. However, let me tell you plainly that it will be our own decision, as it is right now, to fight the war on terror and also the role we need to play for the restoration of peace in Afghanistan,” he said. Foreign Office Spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua was not available for comment on the report.The newspaper report said the US was also asking Pakistan to take specific steps to ease bilateral tensions.
The classified system, put in place after the US raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, signaled a shift by the White House toward a pay-for-performance relationship with Pakistan, as doubts grew that the two countries could for now forge a broader alliance based on shared interests, the report added.The report said a senior US military official called the unusual new approach “a hard-knuckled reflection of where we are right now” in relations. US officials cited the sharp breakdown in counterterrorism cooperation that followed the bin Laden
raid in May and the arrest of Central Intelligence Agency contractor Raymond Davis in Pakistan this year, the report added. The newspaper said the new approach represented an effort to salvage as much counterterrorism cooperation as the Obama administration could at a time when top US officials believed themselves in a race against time to deal a deathblow to al Qaeda’s remaining leadership in Pakistan.
The Journal quoted officials as saying the White House had already frozen some $800 million in security assistance to Pakistan in recent months because of factors that included Islamabad’s refusal to readmit American trainers and military personnel who processed Pakistani reimbursement claims — items that fell into categories on the US performance checklist.
FINAL AMOUNT: The system was not hard and fast, reflecting the volatile nature of the relationship, US officials were quoted as saying by the paper. The final amount that might be withheld would depend on the level of Pakistani cooperation and how aggressive the White House decided to be in withholding funds, said the report.
“The message is: You make progress in these areas, and we can release some of this assistance,” a senior US official was quoted as saying about the review process. “Give us something that we can show [Congress] that we’re working together.”
The newspaper said that under the new approach, the office of the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was compiling classified scorecards that tracked Pakistan’s cooperation in four areas, referred to in the White House as “baskets.”
Each basket contained a to-do list that the administration wanted from Pakistan.
Washington had told Islamabad that future payouts of security assistance would hinge on Pakistan showing it was making progress in these four areas, US officials were quoted as saying. The White House had not assigned specific dollar values to each item, said the paper.
The report said a spokesman for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) denied the US had formally presented Pakistan with such a list and said it was Pakistan’s prerogative to decide how to combat terrorism and conduct relations with Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani was quoted as saying that the relationship between Islamabad and Washington was more than a set of quid-pro-quo transactions. “This relationship is not just about aid,” he said.
“When it comes to our military aid, we are not prepared to continue providing that at the pace we were providing it unless and until we see certain steps taken,” the Journal quoted a senior US official as saying.
“We have identified a number of areas in which both Pakistan and the US need to take measures together to move our relationship forward. And while the areas where we need to make progress are not secret, we are discussing them privately, not publicly,” he added.
According to the Journal, the four baskets were: Pakistani cooperation in exploiting the bin Laden compound; Pakistani cooperation with the war in Afghanistan; Pakistani cooperation with the US in conducting joint counterterrorism operations; and cooperation in improving the overall tone in bilateral relations. Officials said the details of those baskets were classified, the Journal said.
However, the basket that measured progress in improving the overall tone in bilateral relations included a specific call on Pakistan to renew visas for US government personnel to work in Pakistan, said the paper.
Nobody knows whether Pakistan ISI is candid in telling what the real deal is with USA. Pakistani public is always blinded by the military and Pakistani Government. Since they need money they will secretly make a deal and will not disclose to the general public.
USA has never been a reliable ally. We are having to pay a very heavy price. Media and businessmen can play a very vital role in freeing us from this situation. Media is a very powerful force in moulding public opinion. Instead of opting for hype on all issues and getting higher ratings, it is the job of mediapersons to initiate educated debate. At the same time, if businessmen stop evading taxes and start paying honestly, Pakistan does not need to borrow from the world. Only then we can stand with dignity and guard our sovereignty.
COUNTRY FROM DAY ONE OF PPP-ZAFTER SIGNING THE NATIONAL ROBBERY ORDINANCE[NRO]WAS MADE ZARDARI SPECIFIC CAUGHT IN ZARDARI RECONCILATION TRAP TO LOOT AND PLUNDER PAKISTAN TO 12000 RUPEES LOANS AND 100000 RUPESS CORRUPTION RUINING BIJLI,PANI,ROTI,KAPRA,GAS,CNG,PETROL,OIL,GHOST,SABZI,MFRUIT ETCETCETC.ENSLVING TO IMF,UN,USA,SUBJUGATING TO INDIA,CORRUPTING PAKISTAN U IDEOLOGICAL BASE TO ENSLAVE TO NEOCONS,CORRUPTS TO PERPETUATE POWER AND BILLION OF DOLLARS IN FOREIGN BANKS WAS ALLOWED BY THE CORRUPT,CRIMINAL COALITION CARTEL OF PPP-Z,MQM,ANP,MLC AND IDIOT NAWAZ SHARIF WHO HAD NO PERCEPTION OF THE DECEPTION-FOX TRAP OF PPP-Z,MQM,ANP,MMA,ML-C.THE CASULTY IS AND WAS POOR PEOPLE,SAFAIDPOSHS,PENSIONERS FROM PRIVATE SECTOR.
If we see things with balanced approach then here is the truth: All Aid which pours into our country no matter from where ever it comes legally are "Performance Based" from the country concerned. All know that we are habitually corrupt and hide all international bindings from our citizens. We mostly are most faithful to our pockets. All this is going on right from 1948 with some hiccups in-between due to variety of reasons. The factual position is that we can not move even an inch here and there without any aid from abroad. It is not as such that we can not stand on our own feet, yes we can but for this there is a need for lot of sacrifices and Patience for which no one is willing or willingly to do. Unless we do not bring our own house and houses in order we have to say " Yes Sir, Your Most Obedient Servant" at all levels. Is it not shame for us, surely not for those who have been roosting the roast on one pretext or the other.
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