Pentagon ramps up direct military aid to Pakistan

October 16, 2009 by Infowars Ireland

Hit by string of brazen militant attacks in the past 11 days that have killed about 150 people, Islamabad says a ground offensive by its troops is imminent.

www.dawn.com

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is ramping up delivery of military equipment long sought by the Pakistani army to fight militants, US officials said on Friday.

Some $200 million worth of equipment and services already in the pipeline for Pakistan has started to arrive but officials declined to provide full details, saying many of the more sophisticated items were classified.

Some programs have run into resistance from Islamabad, which is wary of appearing too close to Washington, they said.

The US military aid is meant to help Pakistan mount a long-awaited ground offensive against Taliban fighters in their South Waziristan stronghold along the border with Afghanistan, where US and Nato forces are fighting a growing insurgency.

Hit by string of brazen militant attacks in the past 11 days that have killed about 150 people, Islamabad says a ground offensive by its troops is imminent.

‘Each one of these attacks is troublesome,’ Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. “But the Pakistan government remains committed to addressing the threat there.’

Direct military aid from the Pentagon, officials said, would come on top of the equipment that Pakistan receives through normal foreign military sales overseen by the State Department. Officials say those sales vary year to year but generally total around $300 million annually.

US government aid is a highly contentious issue in Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment runs high, and Islamabad has thrown up obstacles to some of the Pentagon’s proposals, including one to expand counter-insurgency training for the Frontier Corps paramilitary force, officials said.

Underscoring those sensitivities, when President Barack Obama signed legislation this week giving $7.5 billion in nonmilitary aid to Pakistan over five years, he did so behind closed doors after Pakistani critics said provisions in the law violated the country’s sovereignty.

While pointing to growing military-to-military cooperation to counter the threat militants pose to the nuclear-armed state, US officials say many of Pakistan’s top commanders remain focused on expanding conventional capabilities to counter long-time foe India. Read full article…