The United States House of Representatives has defeated an amendment to the Defence Appropriations Bill to stop US funding to Pakistan.
The amendment was moved by US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who alleged that Islamabad had undermined efforts to combat terrorism. The amendment was defeated in a voice vote.
“The policy which has us funding Pakistan’s military is wrong, and the fact that we can’t even debate a precise dollar figure is absurd. It is insane for us to continue borrowing large sums of money from China to give to Pakistan,” said.
He said it was a farce to believe that the US aid, sometimes deceptively labelled as ‘reimbursements’, was buying Pakistan’s cooperation in hunting down terrorists.
“It was the Pakistani establishment that sheltered Osama bin Laden for years. They continue to jail Dr Shakil Afridi, the man who helped the CIA locate bin Laden. Why would Pakistan do that if they are really on our side?” Rohrabacher asked.
Claiming that the abysmal human rights record of the Pakistani government is shameful, Rohrabacher said it was even worse because US money contributed to strengthening the security forces that kill and persecute minority groups who are denied their right to self-determination.
“This is especially true for the Baloch and Sindhi, two large ethnic minority groups in Pakistan. Our money equips the Pakistan military, which brutally oppresses the aspirations of both of these people, both of which have a long history separate from Pakistan,” he said.
“Pakistan is not an ally, and any money we send them only strengthens their ability to act against us and against Afghanistan as we withdraw our military. We cannot buy the friendship of a government whose strategic interests are not aligned with ours. They are allied with terrorist elements and our ever more dangerous adversary, Communist China,” he said.