One aim of US-Afghan-Pakistani summit: a parade for aid

Blowing kisses to Congress

The two foreign leaders have made clear that part of their job here is overcoming congressional resistance to the increased aid.

The personable Karzai, a one-time darling of Washington, took care to review what US dollars have already accomplished in Afghanistan. “It’s important for American taxpayers to know the money they have spent has brought a lot of improvement to Afghan life,” he said in a speech Tuesday. He also said he plans to use the campaign before his August reelection bid to convince voters that he stands for a “strengthened partnership with America, which means more money from America.”

A subtler Zardari also made a pitch for increased US support, during a brief public appearance at the State Department Wednesday before going in to private talks with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Karzai.

“My democracy needs attention and needs nurturing,” Zardari said. “Pakistani democracy will deliver, the terrorists will be delivered by our joint struggle,” he added, addressing criticism in Congress and elsewhere that Pakistan has not addressed the extremist threat head on. “Me, my friend President Karzai, and the United States ... will stand shoulder to shoulder with the world to fight this cancer and this threat.”

The State Department’s envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, told Congress in testimony Tuesday that the US must support “unambiguously and help stabilize a democratic Pakistan.” Countering the growing feeling in Washington that the Zardari government is inept and ill-equipped to make the fundamental changes the country needs, Mr. Holbrooke said, “We do not think Pakistan is a failed state. We think it is a state that is under extreme test ... from enemies who are also our enemies.”

Yes, but ...

Some House members, skeptical about how effective the billions in new aid would be, want to place conditions on the extra spending. The conditions, already being criticized in Pakistan, are a response to statements from US military officials that there continue to be “unhelpful” relations between the Pakistani security forces and extremist organizations operating in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region, says the Heritage Foundation’s Ms. Curtis.

Members of Congress “want to ensure that US aid is not perversely undermining US objectives and security interests in Afghanistan,” she says.

The White House has criticized the proposed conditions – which include certifying that future US aid be provided only to a government in Islamabad constituted through a free and fair election, and that Pakistan demonstrate greater cooperation in safeguarding nuclear materials – as too rigid and unreasonable.

In response to Holbrooke’s testimony Tuesday, Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, “We are simply asking the Pakistanis to keep the commitments they have already made to fight the terrorists who threaten our national security and theirs, and that they make some progress doing so, with progress defined very broadly.... Which of these conditions are unreasonable or unattainable?” he added. “And if they are, then what does that tell us about our relationship with Pakistan?

Previous

1 | 2