U.S. to Pakistan: No military aid till terror havens gone
The United States will suspend most of its security assistance to Pakistan, the State Department said Thursday, signaling the Trump administration’s intent to force the country to eliminate militant safe havens.
The announcement from the State Department came just days after President Donald Trump lashed out in his first tweet of the new year, saying Pakistan had repaid years of generous U.S. aid with “nothing but lies & deceit,” a claim that Pakistani leaders labeled “completely incomprehensible.”
Unveiling the new measure in a news briefing, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the suspension would remain in effect until Pakistan takes “decisive action” against the Taliban and Haqqani network, militant groups blamed for stoking violence in Afghanistan and prolonging a conflict that has become America’s longest war.
“No partnership can survive a country’s harboring of militants and terrorists who target U.S. service members and officials,” Nauert said.
Officials acknowledged that the suspension, which follows a previous decision to freeze $255 million in military aid, will have a mostly symbolic effect in the near term. But it is certain to accelerate a downward trajectory in a fragile anti-terror allegiance forged after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Even by the standard of the tumultuous U.S.-Pakistan relationship, the brewing feud is unusually serious, with the potential to trigger a breakdown in ties that could threaten cooperation on intelligence, nuclear safety and the war in Afghanistan.
Also Thursday, the State Department announced that it had placed Pakistan on a “watch list” of countries seen as failing to protect religious freedom, a modest step that nevertheless symbolizes waning U.S. patience.
Moeed Yusuf, a Pakistan scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said Pakistani officials will be bracing for additional punitive measures from Washington but will be unlikely to take significant action against groups with deep ties in Pakistan.
“The problem is that Pakistan is more likely to call it quits than do what the U.S. wants,” he said.
While Pakistan at times has figured as a valued counterterrorism partner, helping to detain key 9/11 suspects and enabling U.S. drone strikes, it also has been one of the most problematic for American policymakers.
U.S. officials believe Pakistan has allowed the Taliban’s reclusive leadership, along with members of the Haqqani network, an aggressive Taliban offshoot, to shelter within its borders, fueling a war that has claimed more than 2,000 American lives and consumed massive U.S. resources over 16 years.
Pakistani leaders deny those claims.
Thursday’s announcement follows months of deliberations, led by senior Trump administration officials known for taking a hard line on Pakistan, about a range of punitive measures, including cutting aid and potentially withdrawing Pakistan’s status as a major non-NATO ally.
“They know exactly what it is we’ve asked of them,” a State Department official said.
The United States has provided Pakistan with more than $8 billion in security assistance since fiscal 2002. But aid flows have subsided in recent years, suggesting that this week’s decision — which could eventually result in Pakistan losing out on hundreds of millions of dollars — is unlikely to have the impact it once would have.
Speaking before Thursday’s announcement, Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, a Pakistani military spokesman, told the Geo news channel that while Pakistan still considers the United States an ally, “no amount of coercion can dictate to us how to continue.”
Discussions about Pakistan are led by national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who appears to share the concerns of other senior officers who served in Afghanistan, and Lisa Curtis, a Pakistan expert who has argued that the United States should pressure Pakistan to curtail arms exports into Afghanistan, expel Taliban leaders and seize their assets.
According to Sameer Lalwani, a senior associate at the Stimson Center, Pakistan might also suspend cooperation on safeguarding its nuclear program or sharing intelligence regarding militants in Pakistan or the Pakistani diaspora in the West.
“They have a lot of arrows in their quiver as well,” Lalwani said. “The worry is if we start going in this tit-for-tat cycle.”