The Wall Street Journal, business daily from Washington, has expressed reservations on the American policy. A despatch on March 3 (2010) in the daily said such a huge quantity of American arms supply to Pakistan is a cause for concern to India  which, going by its past experience, fears that the American weapons in the hands of Pakistan could be employed against India and not the terrorists.

But Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman countered the contention with the argument that India’s massive militarization is a threat to regional security while Pakistan’s procurement is in self-defense.

A diplomat of a Western country posted to Islamabad had a different take. According to him, US aid is required to prop up the civilian government which is on the verge of collapse with the increasing Talibanisation of Pakistani society and army.

PENTAGON REPORT

Pentagon also appears to subscribe to the view that more arms to Pakistan would in reality mean an increased threat to India’s western border. A recent Pentagon report established that Pakistan has indeed diverted American aid meant for fighting terrorists to beef up defence preparedness against India.  ‘The US aid given even after 9/11 was specifically to fight al Qaida and Taliban but it was utilized by Pakistan to strengthen itself against India’, the report said, adding that the weaponry purchased by Pakistan was not fit for anti-terrorism operations.

For instance, Pakistan purchased anti-tank missiles and F-16s. These cannot be used against terrorists, firstly because of the terrain in which the terrorists are operating and secondly because, the people living in the target area are Pakistan’s own people.

A Congressional Research Service (CRS) has also disparaged American sale of F-16s, and avionics for air-to-air combat to Pakistan, saying these weapons are useless for counter insurgency.  

WEAPON INVENTORY

The current tally of US arms in Pakistan possession are 18 new F-16 combat aircraft, F-16 armaments including 500 AMRAAM air to air missiles, 1450- 2000 pound bombs, 500 JDAM tail kits for gravity bombs, 100 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, 500 sidewinder air to air missiles and six Phalanx close-in naval guns, P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and their refurbishment, about 5250 TOW anti armour missiles, and many more sophisticated weapon systems. Clearly this weaponry is of no use against the terrorists.

In the name of war against terror, Pakistan has also obtained military radio sets, surveillance radars, 12 surveillance drones, C-130 E transport aircraft, 14 F-16A/B combat aircraft and 39 T-37 military jets which can be used against terrorists as well as against India.  

Under Excess Defense Article (EDA) Pakistan would get one ex-Oliver Hazard Perry class missile frigate, 20 AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters .and 121 refurbished TOW missile launchers.  

As observed at the outset, both the supplier and the buyer have cared to think aloud about the utility of these missile systems and maritime patrol aircraft in the fight with Mehsuds and Haqqanis and Omars, who have neither an air wing nor a naval detachment; they have no submarines, armoured fighting vehicles or fighter aircraft.

F-16s, P-3C Orion, and M-220 tube launched optically tracked wire guided (TOW) missile will be deadly against Indian tanks; HK-15 “Phalanx” Close in Weapon System (CIWS) provides the navy with a terminal defense against anti-ship missiles.  A little knowledge of weaponry makes it amply clear that these weapons can only be used against India and not against terrorists.

MUSHARRAF’S ADMISSION

Gen Pervez Musharraf, who was Pakistan’s helmsman for over seven years, too has admitted that US military assistance during his rein was used to strengthen defences against India. For valid reasons, he said in an interview.

‘We go by our threat perception and if we have used aid for defending the border with India, it was because we had felt the need’, Musharraf stated in the interview. He elaborated thus: ‘If the threat is from al-Qaeda or Taliban the aid will be used against them but if the threat is from India all the resources including US aid would be used against India’.  He frankly stated that the American financial aid was utilized in transporting troops, arms & ammunition from the Afghan border to Indian border.

Gen Musharraf has not identified the type of threat his country had faced from India during his tenure and earlier. Nor did he mention that the US military aid emboldens Pakistan to attack India, like in 1965 and like the Kargil war, which he himself had precipitated as the Army chief, keeping the political executive in the dark.

PATTERN IN AID MISUSE

There is a clearly discernable pattern in the misuse of American military aid to Pakistan over the years. During the cold war period, US supplied Patton tanks, F-86 Sabre jets, F-104 Star fighters and several other high value weapons to fight the spread of communism. How Islamabad, which is miles away from the Communist bloc, could make the combat? Obviously, this question did not strike the benefactors and the beneficiary.  All these weapons were used against India, as history bears witness to.

Again when the Soviets marched into Kabul, CIA supplied large quantity of arms & ammunition to Pakistan, which appeared to Washington as the new first line of defence against Communism. CIA helped ISI to raise the Mujahideen and arm them to the teeth with goodies like Stinger missiles.  Interestingly, these weapons did not land directly in the hands of Mujahideens. They were given to Pakistan, which distributed some to a chosen few. What had happened to the balance? The ISI used these weapons including stingers to arm the militants acting against India.  The terrorists used some of these weapons to strike Pakistan and the Western world including USA.

HATE SYMBOL –US

‘Being the largest donor to Pakistan, the United States of America must be the darling of the Pakistani masses. More so since, America is deemed to be a part of the presiding trinity of Pakistan, the other two being Allah, and Army. But the reality is the symbol of hate for most Pakistanis, even to those whose relatives have settled in the US. This is a phenomenon which is post-Iraq and post-Afghan operation. In fact, the aversion towards USA amongst Pakistan’s population may be more than most other countries. The American Embassy and Consulates in Pakistan are perpetually on terrorist radar. As recently as April 5, three explosions, two rocket attacks and gunfire rocked the Peshawar Consulate. While no diplomat was hurt, several civilians and security men were killed and a portion of Consulate building was damaged.  

GERMAN ARMS

According to a reliable report, Germany sent 10000 Walther-P-1 Pistols for Afghanistan Army and Police but half of them reached the hands of terrorists, who are already in possession of M249 automatic machine guns and US made Glock pistols amongst many other sophisticated weapons like the long range “Saqr” missiles, which were developed in the eighties for use against Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan.

 CNN reported that 87000 weapons out of a lot of 242000 weapons sent by USA to Afghanistan from December 2004 to June 2008 were missing. Like always these were routed through Pakistan. Such a large number of weapons cannot vanish given the heightened security concerns without some one, really powerful enough in the administration lending a hand.  Who that mystery man or men could be remains one of the many such unsolved Af-Pak puzzles.

Frankly, Pakistan does not need much sophisticated weapons to fight terrorists; it needs will political will and military resolve to wipe-out the terrorist scourge from its soil. But Pakistan is using terrorists to acquire financial and military assistance from USA and other Western countries. And all that aid goes to beef up the Pak war preparations against India and to wage a low intensity war against India. Several Islamic terrorist organizations active in Pakistan and POK are created by ISI and still Pak government is getting US aid by raising terrorist bogey.
 
ECONOMIC AID –ACCOUNTABILITY

In actuality Pakistan needs economic aid and not sophisticated weaponry. Benching marking itself against India is nothing wrong and in fact it is a good and healthy sign of a country gripped by an urge to grow, stand up and be counted on par with the neighbour.  Unfortunately, Pakistan is not benchmarking itself on what make India tick as an economy and as a democracy. Also it forgets that India is a vast country, and it is not a nation that was parcelled into two enclaves at birth only to be separated in a quarter century of existence. More over, can Pakistan frankly claim that it too has reason to worry like India about China and that it has long sea lanes to guard? India has a coast line of 6000 Kms. And its land border touches six countries.

Donor nations, particularly the US, will do well to insist on accountability for the aid given to Pakistan. Whatever assistance offered should be properly utilised and must yield tangible physical assets. Otherwise, Pakistan will remain a failing state for ever and its people marooned in a sea of economic deprivation amidst islands of rich and jihadis playing with their imported automatic weapons.