Pakistan

US administration divided on ties with Pakistan: Report

Some officials in the White House showed a strong US response towards Pakistan, The Washington Post reports.

Afp May 15, 2011

WASHINGTON: The administration of US President Barack Obama is divided over the future of its relationship with Pakistan following the killing of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

The newspaper said that some officials, particularly in the White House, have advocated a strong US response.

"You can't continue business as usual," the paper quotes one of several senior administration officials as saying who discussed the sensitive issue only on the condition of anonymity.

"You have to somehow convey to the Pakistanis that they have arrived at a big choice.

"People who were prepared to listen to (Pakistan's) story for a long time are no longer prepared to listen," the official went on to say.

But few officials are willing to consider the alternatives if Pakistan makes the wrong choice, the report said.

Every available option – from limiting US aid and official contacts to unleashing more unilateral ground attacks against terrorist targets – jeopardizes existing Pakistani help in the war on terror, The Post noted.

Military success and an eventual negotiated settlement of the Afghanistan war are seen as virtually impossible without some level of Pakistani assistance, the paper pointed out.

COMMENTS (5)

Naveed Akhter | 13 years ago | Reply The cutting off of US aid, which some politicians and opinion-makers in the US are calling for, would have serious economic consequences for Pakistan. The macroeconomic implications for Pakistan from the possibility of reduced US assistance are significant. Total hard currency inflows from the US into Pakistan (loans, grants, exports, remittances and so on) amount to about $8 billion annually, which represents about 16 per cent of total inflows of around $50 billion. And while this amount seems small in relation to inflows from other countries, the US continues to have considerable influence over inflows from other countries as well, implying that the impact of a deterioration in bilateral relations could be wider than just the US-specific inflows. Considering that gross external financing requirements are around $12 billion annually over the next few years, the consequences of lost multilateral and bilateral financing would be much beyond just the external sector. This should provide a compelling reason for the Pakistani government, including the military, which receives about $1.5 billion a year in US direct support, to stay engaged with the US. It is therefore wise to take decisions with mind not heart. The so-called religious parties and some intellectuals devoid of the facts, tirade to cut off ties with US are unable to understand the economic situations. Their hue and cry could harm Pakistan.

Prayerer. | 13 years ago | Reply I just hope and pray both Pakistan and the US work out a way where it's a win win situation for both the nations. All eyes on Mr Kerry and Mr Zardari.

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observer | 13 years ago | Reply @Junaid Leave us alone and try doing your business in afghanistan. Can work only if you also leave them alone to do their business. If you keep on springing the Haqqanis and Quetta Shuras on them, obviously they will find 'leaving us alone' very difficult. Are you ready to leave them and the Afghans alone.

Anjum H | 13 years ago | Reply Agreed @junaid. But will YOU then fund our never ending deficits and ever increasing defense budgets? You need to wake up and smell the coffee. We will all become paupers if the world actually does leave us alone in the true sense. We need them much more than they need us. If you truly want them to leave, please prepare for hyperinflation and to start begging for bread on the streets. Instead if all this clamor, we need to fix our house with their money and not wash it down the toilet be it on F16s or Submarines but on educating the poor and increasing out economic output and exports. This way we will become self sustainable and responsible.

junaid | 13 years ago | Reply It would be a big favour for us pakistanis. Leave us alone and try doing your business in afghanistan.

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