Author: Richard P. CroninPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 41
Book Description
In calling for a clear, strong, and long-term commitment to support the military dominated government of Pakistan despite serious concerns about that country s nuclear proliferation activities, The Final Report of the 9/11 Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States cast into sharp relief two long-standing contradictions in U.S. policy towards Pakistan and South Asia. First, in over fifty years, the United States and Pakistan have never been able to align their national security objectives except partially and temporarily. Pakistan s central goal has been to gain U.S. support to bolster its security against India, whereas the United States has tended to view the relationship from the perspective of its global security interests. Second, U.S. nuclear nonproliferation objectives towards Pakistan (and India) repeatedly have been subordinated to other U.S. goals. During the 1980s, Pakistan successfully exploited its importance as a conduit for aid to the anti-Soviet Afghan mujahidin to deter the application of U.S. nuclear nonproliferation law. Not only did Pakistan develop its nuclear weapons capability while receiving some $600 million annually in U.S. military and economic aid, but some of the erstwhile mujahidin came to form the core of Al Qaeda and Taliban a decade later. Congress has endorsed and funded for FY2005 a request from the Bush Administration for a new five-year, $3 billion, package of U.S. economic and military assistance to Pakistan. Some Members of Congress and policy analysts have expressed concern that once again the United States will be constrained from addressing serious issues concerning Pakistan s nuclear activities by the need for Islamabad s help this time to capture or kill members of Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban.
