Following on from yesterday’s story about the US House of Representatives wanting to cut the aid package to Pakistan — because of “increasing lack of respect for human rights, especially women’s rights, and the lack of progress for improving democratic governance and rule of lawâ€Â? — the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam insists that this decision is likely to be reversed. According to a report in The Daily Times (June 13, 2006):
… the Foreign Office said that the House of Representatives had approved the budget presented by the US government with a $2 billion reduction, which had caused a $150 million cut in aid to Pakistan. The cut had not yet been approved by the US Senate, she said. She said that the House of Representatives had proposed a similar cut last year, but the joint committee of the two houses had later restored the full aid to Pakistan. Pakistan hoped that the aid would be restored this year as well, she said.
She is probably correct in her assessment. But she misses the point entirely. Whether Pakistan does or does not get that $150 million is of little consequence to Pakistan, and even less to the US. The real news is that Pakistan just got a scolding from the US Congress. That was the intent of the resolution; after all, what is $150 million between friends!
Which brings me to the cartoon above, which I had originally published in 2003. The good part of things never changing is that one can always recycle this stuff–even political commentary!
Well, I think the problem is not how the US treats Pakistan, but how Pakistan lets itself be treated. I think it is time we grew up and realized that countries have interests and are not just jigri yaars for nothing. We need to be more rational, and less emotional in our approach to foreign policy.
Its idiotic at how the US tries to treat Pakistan almost like a rotten kid, while on the hand Israel can do any human right violation without even a bat of an eyelash from the US. This hypocrisy needs to stop