US lavished $ 3.5bn arms on Pak in 2006

WASHINGTON: Acting against its own interests and unmindful of Indian national security, the United States lavished big ticket arms worth $ 4.5 billion on Pakistan between 2005 and 2008 even as Washington now frets about Islamabad���s diversion of military equipment away from the war on terrorism.An updated Congressional reportreleased last month says Washington signed arms transfer agreements withPakistan in excess of $3.5 billion in the year 2006 alone, ''ranking Pakistanfirst among all arms clients of the United States during that calendaryear.''In fact, the report says, the total value of Pakistan���s2006 arms purchases from the US nearly matches the total value of all ForeignMilitary Sales (FMS) program purchases by Pakistan from the US for the periodfrom 1950-2001 (more than $3.6 billion in current dollars).PresidentBush was in the White House in 2006, locked in a tactical embrace with GenMusharraf, whom he described as his tight buddy. The Congressional report wouldsuggest that for all its famed engagement with New Delhi, the Bushadministration was unmindful of India's security.The report liststhe key elements in Pakistan���s arms purchases from the United States asfollows: 36 F-16C/D Block 50/52 fighter aircraft for $1.4 billion; a variety ofmissiles and bombs to be utilized on the F-16 C/D fighter aircraft for over $640million; the purchase of Mid-Life Update Modification Kits to upgradePakistan���s F-16A/B aircraft for $890 million; and 115 M109A5 155mmself-propelled howitzers for $52 million.None of these big-ticketitems have much relevance to Pakistan���s mandate to fight the specter ofterror it nurtured in the region, subsequent audits and some US lawmakers andexperts have pointed out. That has not stopped the Obama administration and someprominent lawmakers from processing even more military supplies to Pakistan inthe current Congress although there have been promises of greateroversight.While Congressional reports, meant to provide analysis tolawmakers and their staffers, typically do not question US policy, this August24 report tartly observes the ''rise of Pakistan to its new status as a majorarms purchaser from the United States is particularly noteworthy given thedifficulties the US has had with Pakistan since the 1970s over its successfuleffort to produce nuclear weapons.''The Congressional report, partof continuing updates about US arms sales to Pakistan, came a fortnight beforePakistan���s deposed military strongman Pervez Musharraf was reported tohave boasted that his regime had suckered the US and diverted American militaryaid to bulk up against India instead of deploying it for the war on terror.There has also been some disquiet in the military about the wisdom of armingPakistan when there are 100,000 US and Nato personnel next door in Afghanistanwho don���t share Washington���s rosy view of ties with Islamabad,especially after a few firefights on the border.Musharrafsubsequently denied making the remarks about diverting the arms, but hisdisclaimer carries little credibility because he has a long history of mendacityto shield Pakistani interests and misdemeanors, including during the Kargilterrorist operation and Islamabad���s nuclear proliferation. Most famously,the Washington Post once nailed his falsehoods in an editorial bluntly headlined''General Musharraf���s lies'' when he denied remarks he had made in a tapedinterview.But Musharraf���s unexpected disclosures aboutdiverting US arms against India (including his in-your-face remarks that hedidn���t care what Washington thought of it), combined with theCongressional update, could put a spanner in the aid package that the Obamaadministration is currently pushing through Congress if it takes up the matterseriously. It says it intends to.Last week, a State Departmentofficial said Washington will ''take seriously any allegations like this,''noting that it was a former President who has made these allegations. ''Butsimply we don't have the details to be able to respond to the allegations,'' headded vaguely, although it was more of a self-congratulatory boast by Musharrafabout his regime���s tactics than an allegation.However, theObama administration is up against lawmakers who fancy themselves aslong-standing and deep-thinking policy experts who feel the way out of theAf-Pak wrangle is to throw more money at Islamabad before calling it to account.For what it is worth though, the Obama administration is now sending audit teamsto Islamabad to monitor the disbursal and use of US aid. The first such team isvisiting Islamabad this week.