US-Pakistan: Falling out of love?

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!