FReepmail if you want on or off
Posted on 11/06/2007 8:42:56 PM PST by Kaslin
War On Terror: The Bush administration says it will "review" aid to Pakistan but won't cut anything that would hurt counterterror efforts. Not to worry: There's a lot of fat around that bone.
Rather than use the funds to beef up counterterror operations against al-Qaida, the report says the general has "spent the bulk of it on heavy arms, aircraft and equipment that U.S. officials say are far more suited for conventional warfare with India" — the bordering non-Muslim state repeatedly condemned by Musharraf in his memoir as "our most dangerous enemy."
Most of Islamabad's purchases have been big-ticket items that would be hard to deploy in counterinsurgency fights in the rugged tribal area where the Taliban and al-Qaida are holed up. They include: maritime surveillance aircraft; harpoon missiles designed to sink warships; large howitzers that have to be towed into position; and a fleet of F-16 fighter jets.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
That has left fighters with the paramilitary force, known as the Frontier Corps, equipped often with little more than "sandals and bolt-action rifles," said a senior Western military official in Islamabad, even as they face Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters equipped with assault rifles and grenade launchers.
"The view in Washington is that the Frontier Corps is the best way forward because they are locally recruited, speak the language, and understand the culture, terrain and local politics," said a senior Pentagon official
Plans to build up the Frontier Corps are not universally supported by U.S. military officials. Loyalties within the corps are thought by many observers to be divided. Members are recruited mainly from Pashtun tribes with long-standing mistrust of outsiders.
"The concern is that you give them additional training and equipment, and they could end up helping militants rather than taking action against them."
Perhaps as a hedge against those concerns, the U.S. Special Operations Command has recently begun exploring efforts to pay off tribal militias in the region that are not affiliated with the Pakistani government, and arm them to root out Al Qaeda
"You can't buy them, but you can rent them," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions. "There is a very serious effort to look at this."
Thanks....Mussie needs to get after the Bad guys or get out of the way!
Unless Musharaff can continue to have the reliable backing of the Pakistan military, he hasn’t a chance of staying in power, or of assisting to suppress Al Qaida and Taliban formations in Pakistan. That means he will have to provide equipment to his armed forces that may not have direct application to the anti-Taliban mission, but which his military feel they need to carry our their overall mission.
We ought not to object too much to this or we will find ourselves worse off than we already are.
The failure of the Pakistan military to maintain cohesiveness would be disastrous, and could easily lead to civil war and regional breakup.
To be clear, the breakup of Pakistan would risk nuclear war between Pakistan and India in the immediacy of the breakup, and risk proliferation of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to non-state actors in the longer term.
It is in the national interest of the United States to see Pakistan remain intact.
Personally, I want Musharaff to stay in power. It is to our benefit. Do what it takes. Or suffer the consequences.
The ME may not be ready for democracy. Maybe we need to get used to that fact. It’s no reflection on anybody..it is what it is.
“Most of Islamabad’s purchases have been big-ticket items that would be hard to deploy in counterinsurgency fights in the rugged tribal area where the Taliban and al-Qaida are holed up. They include: maritime surveillance aircraft; harpoon missiles designed to sink warships; large howitzers that have to be towed into position; and a fleet of F-16 fighter jets.”
Pakistan’s navy supports the coalition forces with supply ships and patrols in the Indian Ocean, plus F16s can be very useful in obliterating the enemy when you find them holed in groups. The author is clueless.
The money has been going to arm for conflict with India. Anybody who expected them to spend the money chasing Taliban and AQ around Waziristan is naive.
There are scores of bird brained tripe out there on the net that are singing eulogies on how Musharraf is valiantly fight the WOT. Dont they seem enough to keep up the delusion?
BTW chances are the LA times got the info from India.
The only one clueless here is you. PNS dont do support for coalition forces and their F-16s dont do ground strikes on terrorists.
Ok here are a few specific items the Pakis want/are getting,judge for yourself whether they are of any use against terrorists-
1.Are Harpoon Block-2 anti-ship missiles with GPS guidance & a range of 70 miles vital to support operations against a few Pirates & rowboars??The list includes upto 50 submarine launched variants of this missile-who is that meant for??
2.The F-16s they will be getting will have Conformal fuel tanks-giving a range increase of upto 40%,,depending on mission configuration.You don’t even need new F-16s to take on terrorists.A few attack helos or retired US F-16s would do.
3.The list includes 500 AMRAAM medium range air to air missiles.Pakistan’s purchase of this number was the largest single such purchase for this weapon.Will these be used to take out Osama’s fleet of flying carpets from a range of 50 miles???
4.The TOW missiles they are getting have tandem warheads-Ideal for hitting modern tanks with explosive reactive armour.Meaningless for going against folks living in caves.
5.Pakistan will also reportedly get the JSOW glide bombs which use GPS guidance with ranges from 20 to 100 kilometres??Paveway LGBs can do the same role-so who are the JSOWs meant for.
Musharraf gives & gets all the big toys he wants from the Chinese for his boys.China is giving him around 200 new fighter aircraft,an equal number of new tanks & 8 frigates.That relationship will go on,irrespective of what Washington wants or says.Heck,it’s got more muscle since the Pakis can save lots of foreign exchange thanks to US Aid for their American weapons.Pakistan’s military spending is decided by Musharraf & his generals,not himself alone.Pakistan has always spent a greater amount of it’s GDP on defense than India has-for over 40 years.Irrespective of whether they want to take on terror or not.
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