Aid From the U.S. Going to Pakistan to Help Fight Extremists

The Obama administration is finalizing a “security assistance package” (CNN) which will provide Pakistan with almost 2 billion dollars over the next five years to help with combating militant extremists on the Afghan border. This package is intended to help Pakistan make major military purchases which will include helicopters, “weapons systems and equipment to intercept communication” (CNN). Pakistan has been assisting in the fight against Taliban members but recently Pakistani forces have been spread thin due to relief efforts put into place after the floods this summer that ravaged over two thirds of the countries fertile land. The floods in combination with Pakistan having its own battles to fight, in particularly those against India, have left little man power and technology to guard borders and track militants. This is why the United States has come up with a guarantee for large sums of money over the next five years; promising funds in exchange for military aid. Of course there are strings attached, Pakistan must assure this 2 billion goes towards assisting in fighting militants “it can’t be diverted to other threats” (CNN) states one U.S. senior official. With this money there are going to be greater expectations placed on Pakistan to stamp out some of the threatening extremists that have been roaming across borders, hiding out and finding safe havens. Talks about the security package will take place this week in Washington. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton as well as Defense Secretary, Robert Gates will meet with Pakistan Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Pakistan military chief, Gen, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in order to talk about logistics and expectations.

Works Cited

http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/19/sources-u-s-finalizing-aid-package-           to-help-pakistan-fight-extremists/?iref=allsearch

10/4/10

Pakistan officials are currently exercising their sovereignty by recently closing Pakistan’s boarders to U.S and NATO supply troops heading towards Afghanistan. Pakistan closed it’s boarders on Thursday because of the recent drone and helicopter strikes which have killed many Pakistani officials and boarder control officers. The drone strikes have been building the tension between U.S and Pakistan during the past two weeks and it was not until recently that the U.S took responsibility for the drone strikes. According to the New York Times, “the border closing, and the exceptional series of strikes by piloted aircraft, signaled a general increase in tensions between Pakistan and the United States” (NYT). The boarder closing is causing problems for NATO and U.S because of the closed access of the transportation of supplies which need to be moved to Afghanistan. Over 29 NATO supply trucks moving through Pakistan territory towards Afghanistan have been lit on fire and destroyed causing troops in Afghanistan to struggle, waiting for the much needed supplies. BBC news reports that, “NATO supplies have little or no security. Islamabad police chief Kalim Imam said the entire supply operation was "very vulnerable" to such attacks” (BBC News). The attacks are the result of Taliban militants protesting the U.S air strikes and it does not look like they are going to cease “until the supplies have completely stopped” (BBC). Because of the attacks NATO supply lorries are being forced to take a different route to Afghanistan, they “are currently brought into northern Afghanistan via Uzbekistan and Tajikistan but the spokesman declined to say which northern route was being considered” (BBC). Until an agreement can be met it seems as though tensions will continue to run high between U.S, NATO and Pakistani officials resulting in a continuation of the boarder closing.

Works Cited

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/world/asia/01peshawar.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11463490

09/21/10

In recent news coming out of Pakistan we have politically charged violence that has been the cause of 18 deaths. There were also reports of a school bus that rolled over into a river, leaving at least 15 Pakistani students dead. And finally, Pakistani Ambassador, Husain Haqqani visited Salt Lake on Tuesday, September 14^th in order to thank the LSD church for the money it donated for flood recovery.

            The politically charged violence happened Sunday and Monday in the city of Karachi and was the result of the death of Imran Farooq of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) on Thursday in London. According to one CNN report the MQM is, “one of the largest parties in Pakistan [and] is part of President Asif Ali Zardari’s ruling coalition” (CNN). The death of MQM’s spokesperson created unrest in the country and caused riots to break out at the funeral and into the next few days. The riots were targeted towards the MQM’s apposing political group; the Awami National Party (ANP). These two groups have had a long history of negative encounters, in fact, “both parties have been engaged in bloody battles” (CNN) for many years based on political schisms.

In other news out of Pakistan BBC reports on the crash of a school bus in the Pakistan-controlled area of Kashmir. “The incident took place in Garhi Dupatta area, some 16km (9.9 miles) south-east of the regional capital Muzaffarabad” (BBC) and it is believed the bus driver lost control and rolled into the river. So far 15 bodies have been recovered out of the 30-35 students and teachers that were said to be onboard. Unfortunately vehicle events like these are common due to the terrible conditions of the roads because of the 2005 earthquakes that happened in the area. The search for bodies will continue, but little more can be done at this time.

Finally, looking at local events we see that we had a personal visit from the Pakistani Ambassador, Husain Haqqani to Salt Lake City this past week. Haqqani was here on Tuesday, September 14^th in order to extend a personal thanks to the LDS community for its generous donation towards flood relief. The church donated over 3 million dollars in the form of food and supplies which is being distributed to displaced Pakistani citizens in the effected areas. Haqqani stated that there is a lot of work still to be done but that progress is being made.

                                                               
Works Cited

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11380723

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/21/pakistan.target.killings/

Answer to the Flooding in Pakistan?

The flooding in Pakistan is reaching horrific proportions and is actually being considered “the greatest humanitarian crisis in recent history with more people affected than the South-East Asian tsunami and the recent earthquakes in Kashmir and Haiti combined” (telegraph.co.uk). With this crisis hitting epic proportions both in a humanitarian sense as well as in a financial sense. Leaders are at a crunch point and must take action in order to get Pakistan moving towards a recovery plan. But it is here, with the leaders, that we find one of the biggest problems with the whole situation Yousuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, “left to deal with the crisis while his president, Asif Ali Zardari, toured Britain and France, said the floods would set Pakistan back years” (telegraph.co.uk). Donors and charitable foundations are turning their backs on Pakistan because “its government cannot be trusted by anyone” (bbc news). No one knows where donated money will actually end up, therefore governments and organizations are hesitant to give money without seeing the security of a Trust Fund put into place. Such “a fund would not just monitor the cash, but help the government put together a non-political, neutral reconstruction effort” (bbc news) which would, in theory, make sure that the funds be put to good use. Pakistani leaders are in arms about this proposed Trust Fund, saying they feel as though their sovereignty is being threatened when in reality the little sovereignty they currently possess is diminishing by the hour due to their lack of response to the crisis thus far. The solution to this disaster will only come when subject/government and organization/government trust has been established.


Works Sited
Neil, Tweedie. “Pakistan Floods: The Disaster is the Worst in the Uns History”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/7935485/Pakistan-floods- disaster-is-the-worst-in-the-UNs-history.html. Published: 6:07PM BST 09 Aug 2010.

“How to fix Flood-hit Pakistan”. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11200179. Published: 06 September 2010.