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Obama to sign bill freezing aid to Pakistan: White House
White House spokesman says President Obama will sign the bill despite lingering misgivings.
White House spokesman says President Obama will sign the bill despite lingering misgivings. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
WASHINGTON DC: The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation to freeze some Pakistan aid, slap harsh new sanctions on Iran, and endorse indefinite imprisonment of suspected terrorists.
Acting shortly after the White House dropped a threat to veto the bill, the Republican-led chamber voted 283-136 to approve the $662 billion Defense Authorization bill, which also sets high hurdles for closing Guantanamo Bay.
The Democratic-held Senate was expected to vote on the same bill as early as Thursday.
The measure had drawn fire from civil liberties groups that denounced its de facto embrace of holding alleged extremists without charge until the end of the “war on terrorism” declared after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
US President Barack Obama, who had threatened to veto earlier versions of the yearly measure, will sign it when it reaches his desk despite lingering misgivings, spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement before the vote.
“However, if in the process of implementing this law we determine that it will negatively impact our counterterrorism professionals and undercut our commitment to the rule of law, we expect that the authors of these provisions will work quickly and tirelessly to correct these problems,” said Carney.
The legislation, a compromise blend of rival House and Senate versions, requires that al Qaeda fighters who plot or carry out attacks on US targets be held in military, not civilian, custody, subject to a presidential waiver.
The bill exempts US citizens from that fate, but leaves it to the US Supreme Court or future presidents to decide whether US nationals who sign on with al Qaeda or affiliated groups may be held indefinitely without trial.
“In the past, Obama has lauded the importance of being on the right side of history, but today he is definitely on the wrong side,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.
Obama had warned he could reject the original proposal over the military custody issue, as well as provisions he charged would short-circuit civilian trials for alleged terrorists.
FBI Director Robert Mueller warned lawmakers Wednesday that he still had “concerns” that the legislation left unclear “what happens at the time of arrest” in terms of detaining or questioning a suspect in a terrorism case.
There is a risk that “we will lose opportunities to obtain cooperation from the persons that, in the past, we’ve been fairly successful in gaining,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
And “this statute that gives the military an inroad to making detentions in the United States may be applicable and work well with the persons you have now — but five years, 10 years down the road, what could this mean?” he said.
The lawmakers crafting the compromise measure strengthened Obama’s ability to waive parts of the detainee provisions, and reaffirmed that the custody rules would not hamper ongoing criminal investigations by the FBI or other agencies.
And they slightly diluted the legislation’s tough new sanctions on Iran, which aim to cut off Tehran’s central bank from the global financial system in a bid to force the Islamic republic to freeze its suspect nuclear program.
The goal of the legislation is to force financial institutions to choose between doing business with the central bank — Iran’s conduit for selling its oil to earn much-needed foreign cash — or doing business with US banks.
The bill would also freeze roughly $700 million in aid to Pakistan pending assurances that Islamabad has taken steps to thwart militants who use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against US-led forces in Afghanistan.
“If this legislation becomes law, we’ll work with the government of Pakistan on how we can fulfill the requirements. But, this requires us to maintain a strategic perspective,” US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
The measure forbids the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to US soil and sharply restricts moving such prisoners to third countries — steps that critics of the facility say will make it much harder to close down.
The legislation also calls for closer military ties with Georgia, including the sale of weapons that supporters say would help the country, which fought a brief war with Russia in 2008, defend itself.
It also included a measure to crack down on counterfeit electronics making their way from China into the Pentagon’s supply chain, hurting the reliability of high-priced US weapons programs.
Among Republicans, 190 voted yes and 43 voted no, while Democrats were evenly split with 93 votes each way.
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Reader Comments (80)
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Thank Goodness we are finally free from the shackles!!!
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Vienna,December 15,2011
There is no point in aid. It is just a formality.In any case Pakistan military
establishment was the first to cut co-operation,saying co-operation on its
own terms.Unilateral terms are not set in international relations of any kind
except in the surrendering nations.Now let us celebrate it VICTORY for
Pakistan.
Taravadu Taranga Trust for Media Monitoring TTTMM India
–Kulamarva Balakrishna
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Thank you Americans. We don’t want your money now. Spend it on your poor people who are occupying your cities like OWS.
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Cash and military aid no as many Pakistanis and Americans are demanding. However, economic aid for the poor civilians should be a big YES. We have to improve education, healthcare, agriculture, and other civic needs to change the plight of the people. Creating more jobs and opportunities is the solution to most of the problems. Desperate and hungry people do desperate things; let us promote hope and prosperity.
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Bravo! Viva! Ole! Mubarak! Mr. Obama. Thanx for the favor. No AID for Pakistan? What a relief. We should observe ‘Thanksgiving.’ Salams
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Excellent move, since aid was being diverted to use against india this is what india is also expecting from US FROM very long time.
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Good. Good for all parties.
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THANK YOU OOBBAAMMAA But Pay lot of outstanding bills due on you, pay the cost of using our nation against Russia, Pay for NATO Supply route, ..etc,etc
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Thank you Mr O… This will do a great favor for us…. WE DON’T NEED YOUR AID!!!!!!!
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thanks ALLAH America,rather North America is freezing aid.WE SHULD HAVE REFUSED FROM THE OUTSET.We shuld get out the slavery…..for happiness atleast..
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@Saim Baig:
Yeh, but who’s gonna help to pay all the loans?
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thank you very much
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IK was going to Reject your AID anyway when he comes into power in 2013. Thanks for geting his Job done in Advance :)
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@UFF, The govt must calculate the cost for the outstanding bills and send them to US!
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@Saim Baig:
Now wait for the fallout. You ain’t seen anything yet.
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Dear Obama,
Does cutting Aid to Pakistan mean you will “steal” less of my(income tax) money? Btw, don’t you owe China trillions in debt?
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The US strategy is the same as it was back during the soviet invasion. They (US) came, killed, Used us, and in the end fled like they never even knew Pakistan. Look for US to come back begging 5 yrs later when they launch a war against Iran. mark my word.
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OH! this would be great , thank you Mr. Obama for this favor. At this time this is essential for us to stand upon our own feet
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@javed:
I agree with you. “We should have refused”, rather than blaming the donor. Nobody would dare give us anything if we are not accepting.
Regards,
Mirza
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thank you obama for doing this because aid never benifit to achive the respected position in world. and by doing this u r helping to remove the shackle which we never try.
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Best news of the day. Let them cut ALL aid. This BAD money was only filling some corrupt peoples pockets. Did this aid ever help in making hospitals, schools etc. NO. Just imagine if they would have spent even half of that money in Waziristan on schools, colleges, hospitals, infrastructure projects etc. instead of spending on their favorite pastime of killing innocent women & children, things would have been completely different. Even a child could see what they are doing is wrong, idiotic, senseless. Unless they are working on some other agenda which is most likely the case. And then they ask innocently: WHY DOES THE WORLD HATE US.
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I request the govt of Pakistan to engage overseas Pakistanis in the country’s financial decisions.As Imran Khan says ,overseas Pakistanis are the biggest asset of this country .sending annually around 12billion dollars .If they are given good incentives then you never know how much Pakistan will get as remittance .May Allah help Pakistan .
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@Kulamarva Balakrishna:
Then why US was coaxing Pakistan to DO MORE as per its requirement only? Take care while commenting or you would again be contradicting yourself.
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It’s not as simple that. It’s better that we stop asking for/taking aid rather than them stoping it. I feel it is time that we make a statement of “Friends not slaves” in the strongest possible manner, come what may but we first to to look within the country than blame America for everything. We are gullible and currupt that’s why we find ourselves in a tight spot.
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if this happens,it will be first time in HISTory when an “AID” case would be cured.
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I hereby declare tomorrow a National Holiday in Pakistan seeing that most Pakistanis are very happy that the aid has been suspended. Enjoy boys and girls !
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Indian must be v.happy, I wish if Musharraf was president he would not let this happen
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Thank God!!! No please cut ALL the aid….not just some….thanks
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Pakistan has opened its eyes! and America too !
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This is tragic. We need military and civilian aid, there should be no doubt about that. Sloganeering and false patriotism should not replace cool analysis and realistic approach towards real issues facing pakistan. I hope pakistanis will realise this and avoid becoming a pariah state with an agenda of isolation. We should think about our poor and not about war mongers urging us on to take unnecessary confrontations.
Mudassar Salim
Peshawar
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Finally a blessed moved for Pakistan.
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us aid is like AIDS
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Aid was the reason we were able to make balance of payments. Now more Pakistanis will need to pay taxes which I think no one would be excited about.
The payments for the IMF loan would start Jan/Feb of next year. Pakistan does not have the money to pay it back. Mark my words, the REAL drama will begin 60 to 90 working days from this post.
Then we shall see how proud Pakistanis are!
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Looking at the readers comment it should not surprice anybody that why are we in pits since nobody understands the true repurcussions of this move! More inflation, more devalution, more unemployment, more economic problems, etc.
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US public should take their money. We don’t want to be bheek mango fakeer anymore. Coming to think of it now is a good time Pakistanis should start paying taxes.
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Obama shows that voters can never trust what a presidential candidate promises. While running for elections he said he would close Guantanamo once he be in office. He couldn’t translate his words into action.
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& We will Celebrate that day as ” Youm e Nijaat”
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@Soho:
None of your business.
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Finally a dream comes true, waiting for more
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Law & order reform is the most important issue in this country that must be addressed immediately.
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Finally a good move! Thank you Mr. Obama – mr. “I will make peace with the muslim world.” And pay your debts with interest owed to us for keeping the F-16s that we PAID for and you refused to deliver for 15 years under the Pressler bill AFTER we helped you win the cold war. And you pledged $20 billion in “aid” over the next five years?? What about compensation for the $70 billion the Pak economy has lost fighting your damn war and the blood of 40,000 of our dead people eh?? Pay up and get out! China will freeze all your assets which you owe them pretty soon don’t worry. lols.
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Great!!! Bravo!!!! I am so glad to hear that this CURSE of AID has been frozen. I will even go one step further and will ask US to terminate it forever. It will be a great service to Pakistani nation because not even a single Penny ever made to the People of Pakistan. Recommend
Oh thanks, now we are free from this AID disease which is more dangerous than AIDS.
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We always hear a demand from every one
Recommendin Pakistan (leaders and public) that we
do not want American aid we will stand
on our own feet.
America accepted our feelings and is ready
to help
THE RESULT?
We are still crying.
With the passing of this bill the US has definitely turned into a totalitarian State. Now a “terror suspect” can be in GITMO until the War on Terror is “finished”. Yes they rant about freedom.Recommend
Currency: Rupee hits fresh low as US freezes aid
http://tribune.com.pk/story/306792/currency-rupee-hits-fresh-low-as-us-freezes-aid/
haha not even 12 hours!Recommend
@R.A: Ask the Finance Minister He is crying the loudest
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Good riddance! This will make Pakistan’s economy more efficient as it will have to rely on its own sources, i.e. taxes to raise revenues. Thanks Obama.
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Shame on all of the pathetic hypocrites(those who are welcoming this decision). If USA will freeze our aid, the govt can not pay its dues. Then it will default on its debts and will implement a public sector pay freeze. As a result, millions will suffer. And govt can not make all you pathetic folks to pay taxes because you are the biggest thieves in Pakistan( you evade your taxes).
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Thankyou Obama,for making my day.We don’t need you or your aid.
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Thanks. But Only if our ruling elite will learn from this.
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99.99% of the commenters have welcomed this withhold of 700 million dollar for army ? Yes while reporting EXPRESS TRIBUNE has twisted the fact to fit it’s secret diabolical conspiracy. May be a conspiracy to stage a coup-deta ?
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For all my proud Pakistanis, congratulations that USA has decided to stop aiding you, and lets wish the world follows the same. Because we are so proud and so developed that we can self sustain for ever. Also congratulations to all the likes of LeT, JuD, Taliban etc etc since you guys are now drooling with the prospect of millions of unemployed Pakistanis to be hired as your next suicide bomber. We do not need an enemy to finish or divide us. We are so self sufficient and self reliant that we will take care of it ourselves. So Congratulations to Mahi, Optimist, Hu Jintao and likes.
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@Malatesh: Thanks America. It will be blessing for Pakistan. If Pakistan can servive after Pressler Amendmend then we can do better now. America is not doing it first time they have done this for 4 or 5 times before with Pakistan.
We were already expecting this as we have experience this before. In USA at this moment there are over 50 Million people are living under poverty level. America should spend that money on their own poor people.
Aid brings curruption and do not give any benefit to ordinary people.
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No aid but trade
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What a bunch of insane posts here! The commenting is like ignorant children! Do you have any idea of the repercussions??
PKR will decline in value (already started…), inflation will rise more than it’s already high rate, cost of living will increase more than it’s already high rate, Pak govt will default on its int’l debt obligations and be downgraded further, bank credits will disappear for common people, govt will have to shrink and/or will not pay employee salaries, extreme tax measures will have to be implemented at all levels of society….the list goes on….money, credit, income and value don’t just appear suddenly on trees! Get real!!Recommend
Most of this aid is misused anyway i.e. it hardly gets to the point where people actually benefit. Remember when Hilary Clinton said that they monitor how funds would be disbursed and the Pakistan government raised a huge hue and cry over it.
“Aid” is the heroin for Pakistani government. They are addicted to it. Its a cancer that is killing this country.Recommend
The financialsituation will get worse-more starvation, increased crimes and self imolation and suicide bombing, abortions etc. Just implode without dragging your neighbors into this harikiri. Good luck.
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@Maulana Diesel:
What you just said makes no logical sense.Recommend
People always under estimate Pakistan@Kulamarva Balakrishna:
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All aid should be STOPPED. Most of this aid goes to the pockets of corrupt politicians and govt. authorities while the rest goes to NGO working in the interests of US policies in Pakistan. None of this aid gets used in its official purpose. Thus, this aid is doing damage to Pakistan rather than help.
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@pakpinoy: Most of the problems you have pointed out are either already happened or they are almost close to reach their peak BEFORE the freezing up of US AID. US AID is meant only for top-level authorities. Th problems you pointed out is due to mis-management of resources rather than lack of it. We have both natural and human resources to overcome our problems without external help. Its only a matter of courage and faith to overcome our issues. begging had and will lead us nowhere.
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Great news. It is the liberal fascist mindset that promotes the idea that throwing money at something is a solution. Pakistanis are thankful for this stop in aid.
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differentiate between civilian and military aid…military aid is given to fight terrorism and purchase american arms…the latter happens but the former doesnt….it just makes our generals richer and ofcourse give us money to make more nuclear bombs as if we didnt have enough…..we dont benefit at all
civilian aid from U.S has done some wonderful projects–Sim Sim Hamara, Paiman, developing tourism in Swat and also a broad based gender equity programme…Civilian aid is mostly given to local NGOs, and the monitering is strict..and results are good
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Politics aside it seems majority of the commentators welcome the freeze.This means that they (Pakistani)are also willing to give sacrifice.What surprises me is that some have kept the window of opportunity open for other type of loans may they be from USA or IMF etc .If one was to annalyse last five decades of Pakistan history one would be amazed to conclude the country missed many golden opportunities.All govts globally swear to protect and claimto protect their country’s interest.Question is did past and present leadership of Pakistan acted sincerely in the greater interest of the country?It will be in best interest of Pak and Us to sit face to face and reassure each other of mutual respect ,trust and WILl to move forward.The new deal whenever is made should be more business like.Pakistan must cut down it’s expenses and general public made aware of the consequences.Import of luxury vehicles and cell phones in excess of a billion dollars each during last fiscal year was not healthy indicator of rich people’s attitude.Govt is confused and does not have PLAN B Say NO to loans/aids/.
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Most of this AID was going to politicians’s pockets so it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. However, pakistan does need aid for schools and hospitals. The hope is always that a move like this will change people of pakistan for the better who will start paying taxes and holding their leaders accountable.
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@Pakistani:
As Imran Khan says ,overseas Pakistanis are the biggest asset of this country .sending annually around 12billion dollars .If they are given good incentives then you never know how much Pakistan will get as remittance .
So you’re saying that as per Imran Khan, it’s not the Pakistanis in Pakistan who are its biggest assets — it’s the overseas Pakistanis. Interesting…
There are no more than 10 million overseas Pakistanis. They already send home $12 billion of the $180 billion GDP. How much do you and Imran Khan think this can be increased? Do you both think that with more incentives, these overseas Pakistanis will send home the shirts off their backs?
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Obama is nothing short of a disaster. Bush was so much better…
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@Mirza:
Is that’s why we created Pakistan so we go around and beg? Learn to stand up on your feet and improve not by begging.
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@DB:
Do you even know what liberals and fascists are? Most of the west are the antithesis of fascism and liberals are aligned with a frame of mind that values people and are most times against greed based endeavors. Those that consider money the only important thing in life and consider it the solution for much of anything clash with liberals almost completely.
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@Mudassar Salim: Just tax your people. Have you seen how the elite live in Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi? Recommend
Good !! Let’s just see as to how they survive without it even for a year !!!!
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The prime dispute in this bill was detention of foreign terrorist — withholding money from Pakistan wasn’t controversial — Obama’s only reservation on the Pakistan issue was a typical Presidential concern about Congress controlling foreign policy through management of the purse strings. You can expect the Republicans to try and put Obama in the untenable position of defending Pakistan with elections looming – they are likely to promote more punitive laws targeting Pakistan.
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As a strong and respectable people of this Pakistan; we should not talk about the curse that is being avoided through the circumstances. Only plans and ways for self reliance to be debated and discussed by all of us.
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I think our media should not bring this news anymore.always breaking news,media should try to stay a bit on the parameters of nationalism . We must learn to live within our own means..Obama must sign it and keep this money in his treasury, his nation need it .
Chinese are already grumbling on the result of their investment in Europe and America.they said these Western nations are very careless about our investment.We will think twice to help the European and the Americans to bring them out from the ditches of bankruptcies.
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@Khalid Rao:
Don’t worry about what Chinese have to say, as they too can not do without the trade with USA & Europe as their economy would come to standstill and they are pretty nervous of that situation too, as it would create unrest among those made redundant due to lack of export oriented trade !!!
I would worry about how Pakistan is going to cope with multiple issues that it faces on all front fronts from Economic to Stability to their Foreign Policy etc…..
Its obviously not the case at present , where by they are highly regarded on the Global Stage !!!!
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Man everyone here who talks about China this China that..think a bit deeper before making China seem like this high and mighty place. Sure China produces everything, but what good is production when you don’t have anyone for Consumption? The U.S is the biggest Consumer in the world by miles and miles, China will never make them angry unless and until they find an alternate place for this consumption (No the BRIC countries don’t add up to the U.S alone so please don’t think that either) Weakening U.S economy isn’t what China wants.
Sure on the front the common folks get all happy but the truth is that the businesses running the show aren’t for these losses (You have to really be under a rock to think that govt’s not businesses run the world right now).. and how pathetic are was as a nation, U.S sey jaan chutrahi hai so the first thing we taunt them about is that we will turn to China? When in Gods name will we stop looking for support and use our potential to develop our own country. Recommend
Scare tactics for the $$ doller hungry political elite in Pakistan, would they kneel before their masters ??
Glad to see people are ready to take it head on ! Go Pakistan…
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@Hyper Ali:
Have faith my friend. America is not GOD.
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By stopping aid Pakistan is happy as they have got back their self respect.
India is happy as with less money to spare Pakistan will do less mischief.
Us is happy as they are in dire straits and need to cut costs everywhere.
For a long long time no news has brought such all round happiness. TIme to rejoice.
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