The conflicted nature of the U.S. relationship with Pakistan was on full display this past week as the U.S. released official figures on U.S. aid for flood relief while Pakistan closed an important transportation corridor to NATO supply convoys. The aid announcement by the State Department underscores both American generosity to a wartime ally as well as a pragmatic effort to the win hearts and minds of the people of Pakistan. According to the announcement:
The United States Government is providing approximately $383 million to assist with relief and recovery efforts, including approximately $333 million to support immediate relief efforts in Pakistan and an additional $50 million that has been allocated for initial recovery efforts to assist with rebuilding communities impacted by the floods. The U.S. also has provided civilian and military in-kind assistance in the form of halal meals, infrastructure support, and air support to and within Pakistan to transport goods and rescue people at an approximate value of $68 million.* There are currently 26 U.S. military helicopters in Pakistan supporting relief efforts with more offshore on the USS Peleliu. To date, U.S. aircraft have evacuated more than 21,000 people and delivered approximately 15 million pounds of relief supplies. Hundreds of U.S. military and civilian personnel are working around the clock in Islamabad, in flood affected areas, and at Pakistani military bases in support of flood relief operations. American business and private citizens are also making generous contributions to assist the people of Pakistan.
While this U.S. aid effort has been underway the U.S. has also been conducting military operations aimed at attacking al-Qaida and Taliban militants hiding out in Pakistan. The government of Pakistan has known about this for some time and decided to take issue with this after the death of three Pakistani military personal mistakenly killed during a NATO military operation. The details of their deaths remain unclear, but Pakistan’s response was not. They called the operation a breach of their sovereignty and closed a vital transportation corridor to NATO supply shipments in retaliation. Worse, their security personnel stood idly by as NATO supply trucks were systemically targeted and destroyed. Why is Pakistan acting like a child throwing a tantrum? Don’t they know that friendly-fire deaths are a fact of life in warfare? Always tragic, always regrettable, to be sure, but a fact of life. There may be leaders in the government of Pakistan who have the maturity and the resolve to conduct themselves as a stable and reliable ally but there are also elements that are working at cross-purposes with the U.S. and NATO. The nature of these conflicting purposes are reviewed in this report from The New York Times, which concludes on something less than an optimistic note.
Photo Credit: Reuters
