A leading US daily has called for sustaining the pressure on Pervez Musharraf and questioned if the assistance being given to Islamabad was worth it.
WASHINGTON: With the Bush administration reportedly sending a tough message to Pakistan that US aid would be cut if it did not rein in Al Qaeda militants, a leading American daily has called for sustaining the pressure on President Pervez Musharraf and questioned if the assistance being given to Islamabad was worth it.
"The US may well be destined for a long marriage of convenience with Pakistan. But its spouse need not necessarily be named Musharraf," The Los Angeles Times says in an Editorial titled "Keep Pressuring Musharraf".
"Since 9/11 the US has been trapped in an increasingly loveless marriage with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ....the Bush administration has been known to rue the failings of its partner in private. Yet it has always defended Musharraf in public, arguing that whatever his shortcomings, the alternative is far worse," the Times notes adding such "forbearance may be changing".
"For the first time, the Bush administration this week let Islamabad know, through Vice President Dick Cheney, that it is unhappy with Pakistan's performance in fighting the resurgent Taliban. And it hinted that if things don't improve, the White House might not be able to keep the Democratic-controlled Congress from cutting US aid to Pakistan," the paper says.
The Times said this burst of candour is long overdue and so is an overhaul of US policy toward Pakistan.
Musharraf, who ousted an elected government in a 1999 coup, has received between $8-10 billion in direct US aid since 9/11 (and perhaps almost as much in covert aid), the Times points adding "it yet shows no signs of winning the war against Islamic extremism or of advancing democracy.
"On the contrary, his hold on power exists in part because of his unholy alliance with Islamist legislators," the paper says.
"President George W Bush and Congress have been willing to ignore these problems so long as Pakistan was seen as an indispensable ally in the struggle against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, was rolling up the Abdul Qadeer Khan black-market
nuclear operation and appeared to be improving relations with India.
"But Islamabad's failed peace deal in North Waziristan, an escalation in cross-border attacks into Afghanistan and reports of Taliban bases in the tribal areas on Pakistani territory have made that bargain less satisfying. Congress is considering placing conditions on aid," it added.
The paper notes that Pakistanis are also having doubts about the so-called marriage.
"They believe that the US is just using them in the war on terror and will dump them as soon as they're no longer needed. And they say they are being blamed for NATO's failure to curb the Taliban inside Afghanistan," The Times notes.
The daily questions the purpose of sending $80 million a month in "coalition support" to a Pakistani military that is not willing to fight in the tribal areas.
The paper has called for imposing some conditions on US aid and said some needs to be redirected to education, development and the building of democracy, including political parties, so that popular alternatives to Musharraf can one day emerge.
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