Pakistan: American aid means nothing to us! We don’t care if you cut us off!

Pakistan: American aid means nothing to us! We don’t care if you cut us off!

Pakistan officials fired back at the US yesterday, saying they would do no more to help the United States in the war on terrorism. They summoned Washington’s ambassador, David Hale, in response to President Donald Trump’s criticism that the nation had given America “nothing but lies & deceit” in exchange for billions in aid over the last 15 years. Truth hurts, huh guys? They just never thought the US would call them on it.

Yesterday, early in the morning, President Trump came right out and accused Pakistan of pocketing aid money meant to help fight the Taliban and other Jihadist groups. The US and other countries have long criticized Pakistan for allegedly providing “safe havens” for terrorist groups to operate in. That’s no secret and it is exactly what is happening. Pakistan in return blames Afghanistan for not doing enough to contain the Taliban. They also claim that India is a state sponsor of terrorism, allegedly harboring violent Hindu extremist groups. All of this to take the heat off themselves. Pakistan is the real problem here and has been forever.

“We have already said ‘no more’ to America, so Trump’s ‘no more’ has no importance. We are ready to give all account for every single penny to America in public,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said in a statement in response to Trump on Monday. “The United States should hold its own people accountable for its failures in Afghanistan.” Whoa. That’s not what I would call diplomacy, but it’s typical of Pakistan. I would say that the ties between us are now pretty much severed. No big loss… unless of course, Russia steps in to fill the void. And they will.

Asif also said that Pakistan is not concerned with the potential of losing billions in American taxpayers’ dollars. That’s a good thing, because they have already lost it. Pakistan’s defense ministry responded to Trump on Twitter, “Pak as anti-terror ally has given free to US: land & air communication, military bases & intel cooperation that decimated Al-Qaeda over last 16yrs, but they have given us nothing but invective & mistrust. They overlook cross-border safe havens of terrorists who murder Pakistanis.” The statement is an official declaration from Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir-Khan.

“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” Trump posted on Twitter early yesterday. “They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” It is unknown whether Trump has ordered executive action on this yet or not. Trump has said for a long that he hopes to limit foreign investment in nations that remain hostile to American interests. Most recently, in August, Trump said he was exploring a “change in our approach to Pakistan.” “We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond,” Trump stated in a speech at a military meeting in Fort Meyer.

Officials in our government have warned forever that Pakistan was not doing enough to stop terrorists from establishing themselves in various places. Top commander in Afghanistan U.S. Gen. John Nicholson warned back in 2016 that “not adequate pressure [is] being put on the Haqqanis,” referring to the Jihadist Haqqani network, which operates in part in Pakistan. At the time, evidence suggested that senior Afghan Taliban leaders had free range in parts of Pakistan. In March of last year, Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) formally sought to brand Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism. That’s what they are and should be treated as such.

Late last year, a multilateral statement from the coalition of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) appeared to condemn Pakistan without naming it, expressing “concern” for activity by the Taliban and others and expressing support for the Afghan, but not Pakistani, government. Pakistan condemned the statement. I don’t know why they bothered. It was a weak slap on the wrist for them and meant nothing at all.

In the wake of pressure from the US, reports surfaced in Pakistani media that Islamabad officials were contemplating ending cooperation with the United States “if U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration insists on pressuring Islamabad to stop harboring terrorists.” So be it. The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy (NSS) orders the relevant agencies to “press Pakistan to intensify its counterterrorism efforts, since no partnership can survive a country’s support for militants and terrorists who target a partner’s own service members and officials. We will insist that Pakistan take decisive action against militant and terrorist groups operating from its soil. We will work with the Central Asian states to guarantee access to the region to support our counterterrorism efforts,” the text bluntly states.

Look, let’s stop pretending that Pakistan was ever really an ally. They would smile to our face, take our money and then support terrorists who kill our soldiers. Why are we funding those that hate us? Cut them off as Trump suggests and let’s get real about geopolitics for a change.

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at NoisyRoom.net. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - trevorloudon.com. She also does research at KeyWiki.org. You can email Terresa here. NoisyRoom can be found on Facebook and on Twitter.

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