By Indranil Banerjie
At a time when the Pakistani military is trying its best to precipitate a crisis in the subcontinent, the United States has decided to increase military assistance to Pakistan by US $1.5 billion over the next five years. This is in addition to the US $11 billion already given to Pakistan since 2002. On the one hand, Washington has been telling New Delhi that it is applying full pressure on the Pakistani establishment to arrest those responsible for the Mumbai carnage, while on the other, it has been assuring Pakistan of continued support. The news of the billion and a half dollar largesse was not announced publicly by the US government but was leaked by a Pakistani TV channel. The Daily Times clarified that the United States has agreed to increase Pakistan’s military assistance by over $300 million per year for five years. “The current arrangement regarding the annual military aid would expire on September 30, 2009 when the US fiscal year 2008-09 ends. This was part of a $3.2 billion US aid package agreed upon in 2003 and was evenly divided between military and economic assistance,” the report claimed, arguing that a change of government in Washington on January 20 would not affect the package.
Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told a briefing that the US Defence Department was working on a proposal to provide additional security assistance to Pakistan in support of its counter terrorism efforts along the Afghan border. He said the proposal for new assistance to Pakistan has come from Central Command and is at the early stages. The proposed funding is in addition to existing programmes including the coalition support fund and foreign military financing. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who will continue to serve as Defence Secretary under president-elect Barack Obama, has also pledged to forge a stronger partnership with Pakistan to support its economy and fight against violent extremism along the Afghan border.
The ostensible aim of this additional money is to help the Pakistani army improve its counter insurgency operations in the tribal areas adjoining Afghanistan. However, all evidence suggests that the Pakistani Army’s fight against extremists in the tribal areas is being conducted with great reluctance. Not only do the extremist appear to be winning but even the key frontier city, Peshawar, is today in the danger of falling to Islamist rebels. Despite the billions provided to it, the Pakistani Army cannot even protect NATO convoys travelling from the port city of Karachi to the Khyber Pass from being attacked by the Taliban. Even the main NATO supply depot in Peshawar was recently bombed and over a hundred vehicles destroyed. Fact is that most of the billions of dollars in aid given to Pakistan have been used up by the Army to bolster its finances and acquire weaponry to counter India. Since 2003, the Pakistani Army has been steadily improving its capabilities against India. This is one reason why it was emboldened to order the Mumbai terrorist strike.
The extent of the recent US military aid to Pakistan is truly staggering. A report prepared by the US Congressional Research Service in January 2008, pointed out that in the year 2006 alone, “the United States signed arms transfer agreements with Pakistan in excess of $3.5 billion, ranking Pakistan first among all arms clients of the United States during that calendar year. The key elements in Pakistan’s arms purchases from the United States were 36 F-16C/D Block 50/52 fighter aircraft for $1.4 billion; a variety of missiles and bombs to be utilised on the F-16 C/D fighter aircraft for over $640 million; the purchase of Mid-Life Update Modification Kits to upgrade Pakistan’s F-16A/B aircraft for $890 million; and 115 M109A5 155mm Self-propelled howitzers for $52 million. The rise of Pakistan to its new status as a major arms purchaser from the United States is particularly noteworthy given the difficulties the United States has had with Pakistan since the 1970s over its successful effort to produce nuclear weapons.” The total value of Pakistan’s 2006 arms purchases from the United States nearly matches the total value of all Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme purchases by Pakistan from the United States for the 50 year period between 1950 and 2001!
The US Congress has been told that the equipment being given to Pakistan was for counter-terrorism. This is a ludicrous explanation given that F-16 aircraft, military trainer jets, sidewinder air-to-air missiles, self propelled artillery guns, maritime patrol aircraft, anti-tank and naval missiles cannot possibly be of any use against terrorists. The Bush Administration has attempted to show that the F-16 has been a useful weapon for Pakistan in the fight against Islamists. “F-16s provide a critical counterterrorism capability to Pakistan,” a State Department official was quoted. “The new and enhanced F-16s will provide Pakistan with the ability to attack fleeing targets with precision during all weather conditions.” None of the F-16s have or will be used for counter-insurgency; rather, these US arms seem destined to be used against Indian combatants.
US-Pakistan Military Cooperation has come under criticism by several groups including the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations. In a report prepared by the Council, the shortcomings of the US government’s assistance programme were highlighted. “Military cooperation between the United States and Pakistan has undergone a tactical renaissance since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001”, it said, adding “ In June 2008, the US government reported that nearly $11 billion (PDF) in military and economic assistance grants have been delivered since 2002, the vast majority channelled through Pakistan’s military for security-related programmes. A report by the Center for Public Integrity finds that in the three years after 9/11, military aid to Pakistan from the Coalition Support Fund -created after the attacks to assist US allies in the global fight against terrorism -was nearly $3 billion, 10 times the amount received by Poland, the second-highest recipient of cash from the fund. Pakistan has used the money to purchase helicopters, F-16s, aircraft-mounted armaments, and anti-ship and anti-missile defence systems – weapons that Indian officials and others have deemed of questionable relevance to the counterterrorism mission. A June 2008 report from the US Government Accountability Office found widespread accounting irregularities (PDF) with Pentagon spending.” Craig Cohen and Derek Chollet of the Center for Strategic and International Studies suggest that more funding should be aimed at development and humanitarian programmes. “Although foreign military financing is often justified to Congress as playing a critical role in the war on terrorism, in reality the weapons systems are often prestige items to help Pakistan in the event of war with India,” the authors write. “Few of these weapons are likely to provide much help in rooting out al-Qaeda or the Taliban.” Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, says the United States should focus more on economic and political initiatives in the region.
More goodies are in the pipeline for Pakistan. The Senator Biden and Lugar’s legislation specifically authorises $7.5 billion over the next five fiscal years ($1.5 billion annually) in non-military aid and advocates an additional $7.5 billion over the subsequent five years. The legislation further imposes conditions on military aid implying that this would be extra.
The Secretary of State has to certify that Pakistani security forces are making concerted efforts to prevent al Qaeda and associated terrorist groups from operating in the territory of Pakistan, making concerted efforts to prevent the Taliban from using the territory of Pakistan as a sanctuary from which to launch attacks within Afghanistan, and not materially interfering in the political or judicial processes of Pakistan.
An organisation called the Centre for American Progress issued a statement in August this year questioning the efficacy of US assistance to Pakistan. The Centre pointed out that of the total assistance to Pakistan since 9/11, $7.89 billion was the amount of US military assistance to Pakistan while US aid allocated to economic and development assistance, including food aid, during the same period, was a mere US $ 3.1 billion. The Centre asked: “Is this military aid helping make Pakistan safer?”
Given the generosity of the United States, the Pakistan military has no incentive to behave. Armed to the teeth by Washington, the Pakistani fighting machine is baring its fangs towards India. Clearly it is time for New Delhi to evaluate the benefits of the so-called strategic partnership with Washington, which in turn must similarly appraise its own behaviour. For, giving India-specific weapons to the Pakistani military machine is like arming the Hezbollah against Israel.
The key elements in Pakistan’s arms purchases from the United States are :
- 36 F-16C/D Block 50/52 fighter aircraft for $1.4 billion
- Missiles and bombs to be utilised on the F-16 C/D fighter for over $640 million
- Mid-Life Update Modification Kits to upgrade Pakistan’s F-16A/B for $890 million
115 M109A5 155mm Self-propelled howitzers for $52 million