Between 2002 and 2008, the United States paid out $6.6 billion in direct support to the Pakistani military. Now, it appears only a fraction of that amount -- around half a billion -- actually made it to the intended recipients.
That's the story two anonymous Pakistani army generals tell the Associated Press. And their allegations are bolstered -- on the record -- by retired Gen. Mahmud Durrani, who was Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. under President Pervez Musharraf.
Pakistani generals tell AP veteran Kathy Gannon that the government of Musharraf diverted the funds to economic subsidies to bolster his domestic ratings. "It went to things like subsidies, which is why everything looked hunky-dory," Durrani said. "The military was financing the war on terror out of its own budget."
Post-9/11, Pakistan has received around $12 billion in military and economic aid for lending support to the U.S. anti-terror fight. The biggest chunk has been in so-called "coalition support funds," reimbursement for sending their troops to reinforce the border with Afghanistan and fight militants in tribal areas. As of mid-2008, this program accounted for over half of all U.S. funds given to Pakistan since 2001.
It's long been suspected that Pakistan was playing fast and loose with U.S. military assistance. Last year, a Government Accountability Office report suggested (in careful bureaucratese) the Pakistani government was overbilling the U.S. government for military operations -- and that the Defense Department had paid out billions in reimbursement claims without proper documentation.
But coalition support funds aren't the only pot of money to play with. Section 1206 funding (which allows the Department of Defense to reprogram funds to train and equip foreign security forces in coordination with the Department of State) has helped pay for new equipment; the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund is supposed to pay for counterinsurgency operations; and Congress just voted to triple non-mililtary aid to Pakistan.
The latter point is especially important. As USA Today's Ken Dilanian recently reported, the State Department is rethinking the way it delivers aid to the region. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants to reduce the U.S. Agency for International Development's dependence on Beltway bandits contractors to deliver aid to the region -- but it's unclear how, exactly, steering more money through the Pakistani government might improve the situation.
[PHOTO: Wikimedia]
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