Pakistan is complaining that it needs more weapons from the United States in order to fight the Taliban insurgency in the northwest regions bordering Afghanistan, Newsweek's Ron Moreau and John Barry report uncritically. "We are on a war footing," Pakistan's national-security chief, retired Army Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani told the magazine. "But [the U.S.] supply chain is working on a peacetime basis. You have to support us at much greater speed." Pakistan wants more Cobra attack helicopters, designators for laser-guided bombs, night vision equipment, IED jammers, and sophisticated communications monitoring equipment.
The reality is the United States has already invested more than $5 billion in the Pakistani military. In December 2007, the New York Times reported the U.S. taxpayers are being taken for a ride by Pakistan, as much of the funds were diverted to conventional Pakistani forces on the border with India.
In interviews in Islamabad and Washington, Bush administration and military officials said they believed that much of the American money was not making its way to frontline Pakistani units. Money has been diverted to help finance weapons systems designed to counter India, not Al Qaeda or the Taliban, the officials said, adding that the United States has paid tens of millions of dollars in inflated Pakistani reimbursement claims for fuel, ammunition and other costs.
In February 2008, one US official told The Guardian that more than 70 percent, over $3.8 billion, cannot be accounted for.
So what has this investment bought the United States? The Taliban have taken control of all seven of the tribal agencies bordering Afghanistan and is in control or has a strong presence in much of northwestern Pakistan. The Taliban, al Qaeda, and a host of jihadi groups maintain training camps throughout the region. Last summer, U.S. military and intelligence officials told me there are more than 150 camps and more than 400 support locations (safe houses, weapons storage locations, etc.) in the northwest. In late August, the U.S. stepped up airstrkes dramatically in the tribal efforts in an effort to prevent al Qaeda from htting the West again. NATO supply columns are being hit almost daily while traveling through Peshawar and Khyber. Jihadi groups launched a multitude of attacks on the neighboring countries of Afghanistan and India, with the help of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence agency and elements within the military.
The U.S. better think long and hard before investing more money in Pakistan's military.
