Bill tabled in US Congress to revoke Pakistan’s major non-NATO ally status

Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
29,785
Likes
48,227
Country flag
https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/2017/...-revoke-pakistans-major-non-nato-ally-status/

  • Pakistan
    Be the first to comment!


    WASHINGTON: Two US lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill in Congress, seeking to revoke Pakistan’s status as a major non-Nato ally (MNNA).

    The movers also argue that since Pakistan has failed to effectively fight terrorism, it no longer deserves US economic and military assistance.

    The focus of the bill, however, is on revoking the MNNA status, which was granted to Pakistan in 2004 by then President George W. Bush to encourage Islamabad to help the United States fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban. If passed, the legislation will greatly hurt military to military relations between the two countries.

    The status grants critical benefits in foreign aid and defence cooperation, as a major non-Nato ally is eligible for priority delivery of defence material and expedited arms sale process. The designated country also benefits from a US loan guarantee programme, which backs up loans issued by private banks to finance arms exports.

    A major non-Nato ally can also stockpile US military hardware, participate in defence research and development programmes, and can buy sophisticated weaponry.

    “Pakistan must be held accountable for the American blood on its hands,” said Republican Congressman Ted Poe, who introduced the bipartisan bill with Congressman Rick Nolan, a Democrat.

    Mr Poe, who is a member of the foreign affairs committee and serves as chairman of the subcommittee on terrorism, non-proliferation and trade, said that for years, Pakistan has acted as “a Benedict Arnold ally of the United States,” referring to an 18th century American general who defected to the British army.

    “From harbouring Osama bin Laden to backing the Taliban, Pakistan has stubbornly refused to go after, in any meaningful way, terrorists that actively seek to harm opposing ideologies,” said Mr Poe, who always plays a leading role in sponsoring anti-Pakistan legislation.

    His moves are usually rejected by other lawmakers. And the continued presence of thousands of US troops in Afghanistan can prevent Congress from passing this bill as well, because the United States still uses Pakistan’s land route for supply for its troops.

    Pakistan also has deployed tens of thousands of troops along the Afghan border and more than 6,000 Pakistani soldiers have died fighting the extremists in the border area.

    But such sacrifices had little impact on the movers of the bill.

    “We must make a clean break with Pakistan, but at the very least, we should stop providing them the eligibility to obtain our own sophisticated weaponry in an expedited process granting them a privileged status reserved for our closest allies,” Mr Poe said.

    Backing his Republican colleague, Congressman Nolan said, “Time and time again, Pakistan has taken advantage of America’s goodwill and demonstrated that they are no friend and ally of the United States.”

    Urging Washington to stop supporting Pakistan, he said that the billions of dollars the US has sent to Pakistan over the last 15 years have done nothing to effectively fight terrorism and make us safer.

    “It is time to wake up to the fact that Pakistan has ties to the same terrorist organisations which they claim to be fighting,” he said. “The legislation will protect American taxpayer dollars and make the US and the world safer.”

    The two lawmakers reminded the Trump administration that last August, then-Secretary of Defence Ash Carter withheld $300 million in military reimbursements because he could not certify that Pakistan was taking adequate action against the Haqqani network. – Samaa
 

sorcerer

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2013
Messages
26,920
Likes
98,472
Country flag
Cornering pakistan turned another corner.
If these all work..then even tho pak cries to USA for support if India trashes pak, US will be less obliged to help pakistan.

Good to see some progress in real at ground level from the GoI and US administration,
 

Mikesingh

Professional
Joined
Sep 7, 2015
Messages
7,353
Likes
30,450
Country flag
The Yanks have been tabling bills against Pak since the days of Christ, but nothing has come out of them. Like a bill tabled to declare Pak a state sponsor of terror, another for Baloch freedom from Pak's forcible occupation in 1948 and so on. It's all a show from the well funded India caucus, but to no avail. It will always be business as usual where US-Pak relations are concerned.
 

Yggdrasil

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2016
Messages
682
Likes
3,749
Country flag
Uncle Sam is not India's friend.

The US always prefers brutal dictatorships it can manipulate and threaten, rather than large democracies it cannot directly influence and needs a lot of messy money business through NGOs to force "regime changes" in.

The US can make Porkis dance to their tune - they can't make India do that. All this is eyewash - Pakistan will never be alienated by the US in favour of India.
 

Global Defence

Articles

Top