Bloomberg reports that the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, said his country “doesn’t have to disclose the location of its weapons to the U.S..” This is in response to a U.S. inquiry as to the location of the weapons for strategic reasons, namely for their and our security and in an effort to keep them out of the wrong hands, i.e. Al Qaeda.
On the issue of non-military aid, Zardari complains that the $1.5 billion a year in non-military aid (for 5 years) that the U.S. has offered to help Pakistan is not enough. The U.S. offer comes as part of the administration’s plan to make extremism a less desirable option to Pakistanis. Said Zardari, “this aid package is not even one-tenth of what you give AIG.” And on the conditions in the legislation passed by the House in exchange for giving, not lending Pakistan this money, Zardari likened this to “doubting an ally”.
This sounds just a little pushy for the leader of a country where the Taliban recently made its way to within one hour of the capital, Islamabad. Mr. Zardari may have been democratically elected, but his approval ratings are dismal, and Pakistan’s government has yet to become stabilized. There is even talk of the U.S. backing Nawaz Sharif, a former political opponent of Mr. Zardari who is viewed by some as being too close to extreme Islamists to lead Pakistan. Bringing stability to Pakistan is critical, but Mr. Zardari would be smart to cooperate with the U.S. and avoid playing hardball at a time when his country needs us both for their economic development and more importantly, to lend in a hand in keeping them safe.
Tags: Pakistan, war on terror, weapons, Zardari
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