Today’s Huffington Post has article (here) that discusses the fact that the Pakistani government paid upwards of $6 million USD in order to broker the current cease fire in the Swat Valley. The article states that part of this money came from the US, which makes the whole thing even more bizarre. It is hard enough to believe that a democratically elected government – even in a democracy as flawed as Pakistan’s – would pay such a hefty sum to turn over a piece of territory to a group of violent extremists, but that the US would contribute to it when it is currently spending billions of dollars fighting the group is simply mind blowing.
Somehow I doubt that this is what John Kerry and Richard Lugar had in mind when they called for the US giving Pakistan upwards of $5 billion USD in emergency aid as soon as possible (see here). When one takes into consideration that the US has already given Pakistan well over $10 billion USD in the last seven years and you can start to see yet another example of run away spending on the part of the US. Where has all of this money gone? What has the US gotten in return for its investment in Pakistan?
So far it seems that this money has resulted in Musharraf being able to stay in power for a few more years than he would have otherwise, which only further weakened Pakistan’s governmental institutions. The Taliban have gotten stronger in several parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan extremists managed to plan and to carry out a major terrorist attack in Mumbai with help from parts of Pakistan’s ISI. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated mere weeks after returning to the country, by the same people that her widower is now apparently trying to appease by paying them off. And the Pakistani economy is as weak as ever, which will only end up pushing more people into the madrassas and the hands of the Islamic extremists.
While $5 billion may seem like a pitance in these times, it better better be used wisely or Pakistan will continue to spiral downward like money going down the drain.
(If any one is interested in a comprehensive report on all of this from the Atlantic Council, here)
Emma G's Stream of Consciousness 