US congressmen term Pakistan a ‘black hole’ for aid

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers — both Democrat and Republican — on Thursday slammed the Obama administration’s request for $2.4 billion in aid for Pakistan, dubbing the country a black hole in which the United States had sunk $24 billion over the past decade.

“Pakistan is like a black hole for American aid,” Gary Ackerman — a top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs panel on the Middle East and South Asia — asserted during a hearing.

“Our tax dollars go in, our diplomats go in, our aid professionals go in, our hopes go in and our prayers go in. Nothing good ever comes out.”

Claiming that Islamabad continued to pursue its national interest at the expense of Washington and its allies, Ackerman maintained, Pakistan continues to shelter, directly support and sponsor terrorists.

Officially acknowledging this indisputable fact might be grossly impolitic, but that doesn't make it less true. American standing in Pakistani public opinion is terrible and getting worse, he said.

Republican Dana Rohrabacher, meanwhile, blasted US support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai who he claimed was taking marching orders from Pakistan. We should cut Pakistan off of every Cent because it has been used for evil purposes, including killing American troops, he said.

However, a State Department official testifying at the hearing suggested that cutting off aid completely would be shortsighted and impulsive.

Our current discussions with the Pakistanis on how best to pursue our common interests will take time to resolve, and it’s not easy right now to provide satisfying answers to some questions, Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Daniel Feldman stated in written testimony.

[But] the fact of the matter is that we’ve been able to kill more terrorists on Pakistani soil than just about any place else, he said citing President Barack Obama’s words after the death of Osama bin Laden last May. We could not have done that without Pakistani cooperation.