“Pakistan’s Musharraf Takes USA For A Ride…”

The cryptic comment above comes from a European diplomat based in Islamabad. This was his reply when the New York Times reporter asked the diplomat his reaction to the serious allegations by senior US officials that billions of dollars in American aid given to the Pervez Musharraf regime for anti-terrorism efforts have been wasted, and much of it was diverted to help finance weapons systems designed to counter India rather than fight al-Qaeda and Taliban.

India has been protesting to the US administration for the past decade or more that the American aid to Pakistan is being primarily used against India and not for the so-called ‘War on Terror’. But no one cared to listen.

Was this a part of the overall American strategy to run foreign affairs through bribery? Does this not promote a chain of bribe giving….from Musharraf downwards who would use it to purchase his detractors or buy loyalty of his own men??? Musharraf’s civilian opponents say he used the reimbursements to prop up his government.

Probably this US administration strategy is also in operation in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it appears to be a myopic plan which would fan the fires of terrorism instead of controling it. Because the day this bribery ends…so does loyalty!!! Those leaders caught in this vicious circle of bribe giving would not only endanger themselves but their own countries.

Let us get back to the New York Times story: “After the United States has spent more than $5 billion in a largely failed effort to bolster the Pakistani military effort against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, some American officials now acknowledge that there were too few controls over the money. The strategy to improve the Pakistani military, they said, needs to be completely revamped.

“The $5 billion was provided through a program known as Coalition Support Funds, which reimburses Pakistan for conducting military operations to fight terrorism. Under a separate program, Pakistan receives $300 million per year in traditional American military financing that pays for equipment and training.”