Richardson Cuts to the Heart of Musharraf's Tyranny (End Military Aid)

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Richardson says to cut aid to Pakistan

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson said Monday the Bush administration isn't being tough enough in response to the unrest in Pakistan.

He said the administration should stop providing aid to Pakistan unless Pervez Musharraf restores democratic institutions and begins to do more to root out terrorists.

"The administration basically has a weak and ineffectual response," Richardson said, speaking to reporters following a rally Monday.

Musharraf declared a state of emergency over the weekend, bringing more chaos to an already chaotic situation.

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/11/06/news/iowa/8b0b96b571cd27158625738b000c7611.txt


from Oct. 18:

Richardson: Pakistan's Musharraf deserves no help

DES MOINES—Democratic presidential contender Bill Richardson questioned the legitimacy of Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government today and criticized the Bush administration for coddling him and other "corrupt dictators."

Richardson, the New Mexico governor and former UN ambassador in the Clinton White House who has stressed his diplomatic skills on the campaign trail, contended Bush should instead be helping developing countries on issues involving renewable energy, food assistance and microlending practices.

"I would not give him any assistance," Richardson told reporters after delivering a speech on the global challenges ahead. "I would not give him the kind of assistance we give him unless he does something about the safe havens of the terrorists."

But on Thursday, Richardson accused the administration of assisting "dictators like Musharraf in Pakistan" and "helping dictators all over the Middle East" and providing foreign aid to "corrupt dictators that are not helping us."

"He was elected in a way that does not support legitimacy and he should have free and fair elections," Richardson said of Musharraf's Oct. 6 win in Pakistan's parliamentary election for president, which is being challenged.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/richardson_pakistans_musharraf.html

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1. Pentagon slush fund

Pentagon pressure adds to Bush quandary

November 6 2007

Senior US officials say they are scanning the “inventory” of congressional statutes governing assistance to Pakistan to see which aid programmes might be affected by Gen Musharraf’s declaration of a state of emergency at the weekend.

However, according to Rick Barton, a senior analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, roughly 60 per cent of the almost $11bn (€7.6bn, £5.5bn) the US has given Pakistan since 2001 has come through a Pentagon slush fund that has been subjected to little congressional scrutiny.

This has included $100m a month in direct cash payments to the Pakistan military for its anti-terrorist operations along the Afghanistan border, which were kept up even during the periods when Islamabad was maintaining a ceasefire with the tribal groups that control those areas.

Meanwhile, those laws that do specify potential cut-off points for aid to Pakistan contain vaguely worded provisions that would enable the administration to continue the flow of assistance for humanitarian reasons or because it is in the US’s national interest.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8c357062-8c8d-11dc-b887-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1