Senators John F. Kerry and Richard Lugar discussed the measure yesterday at a joint news conference on Capitol Hill. The money would fund roads, schools, and clinics in Pakistan.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta/ Associated Press)
Kerry, Lugar aim to triple nonmilitary aid to Pakistan
Bill seeks $1.5b annually for next five years
Senators John F. Kerry and Richard Lugar discussed the measure yesterday at a joint news conference on Capitol Hill. The money would fund roads, schools, and clinics in Pakistan.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta/ Associated Press)
WASHINGTON - Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John F. Kerry and ranking Republican Richard Lugar introduced a bill yesterday that would triple nonmilitary assistance to Pakistan to $1.5 billion annually for the next five years in a bid to help stabilize the democratically-elected government of President Asif Ali Zardari, who is besieged with a festering insurgency and a domestic financial crisis.
The aid plan, which Kerry attempted to get passed last summer, would fund roads, schools, and clinics at a time when many average Pakistanis have grown disillusioned with their government and the US-prompted war against Taliban militants who have taken control of large parts of the country.
When asked at a news conference whether the funding would come too late to help Zardari, Kerry acknowledged that "we have lost a lot of time."
But the Massachusetts Democrat said the money would be an important signal of America's long-term commitment to Pakistan, where many see the United States as a fair-weather friend that will withdraw its aid as soon as its goals are accomplished.
"This legislation is the first time we have made a longer-term commitment," Kerry said. "While governments may change, I don't believe the country itself is about to fall apart."
Zardari is due to meet President Obama for the first time tomorrow as part of a summit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai aimed at countering growing violence in the region. On Thursday, Kerry and Lugar, of Indiana, will host a 70-person lunch at the Capitol for Zardari, Karzai, and the US special envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, to discuss the plan.
Aides said that the bill was aimed at giving the Obama administration and US Agency for International Development wide discretion, given the rapidly-changing situation on the ground.
Kerry urged the administration to use "the vast majority of these funds" on nonmilitary economic assistance, but left the door open for some of the money to be used for military purposes, if necessary.
The bill authorizes, but does not appropriate, the money, so Obama will still have to go through the formal process of requesting the funds. Once the money comes, the challenge will be to spend it effectively, said Daniel Markey, a former State Department policy planner.
A separate program launched by the Bush administration to spend $750 million over five years on development aid in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas has faced "enormous difficulties" because of poor security and a lack of local institutions to partner with, Markey said.
A House version of the Kerry-Lugar bill that included pages of detailed conditions drew scathing criticism from Pakistani officials who said they could not accept aid with such strings attached. But Kerry's bill, which has been endorsed by the Obama administration, contains only a few conditions - such as the requirement that Obama certify that the Pakistani military is fighting terrorists and not meddling in politics - although Obama can also waive the conditions.
Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, could not be reached for comment. But Mark A. Siegel, a partner at Locke Lord Strategies, a lobbying firm retained by Pakistan, praised the bill.
"The world has a lot at stake in the success of the government of Pakistan in defeating terrorism," he said.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
