Support Waivers for U.S. Economic Aid to Pakistan (Reuters)
Policy Analyst Danny Cutherall was quoted in a Reuters article on U.S. aid to Pakistan.
From the Article
Senator Richard Lugar says the U.S. 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 U.S. accusations that some in the Pakistani government have aided anti-U.S. militants, Congress is reevaluating its 2009 promise to triple nonmilitary 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.
The economic aid was intended to convince Pakistan the United States could look beyond counterterrorism cooperation and show concern for Pakistan's long-term development, in areas including infrastructure and agricultural.
That approach was heartily endorsed by the Obama administration, and the 2009 law authorizing the aid was named after its sponsors: Lugar, a Republican, and two Democrats, Senator John Kerry and Representative Howard Berman.
But Pakistan's suspicions of the United States do not appear to have eased, and U.S. mistrust of Islamabad definitely has grown. Washington last week said Pakistan's powerful ISI spy agency backed the Afghan Taliban-allied Haqqani network, and provided support for the group's September 13 attack on the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul.