03-03-2008, 04:56 AM
<b><i>RIPPLE EFFECT</i></b>
[center]<b><span style='color:green'>Secret bases and senatorial perks</span></b>[/center]
<b>Pakistan, if the hawks in the establishment were to be believed, is literally between the devil and deep blue sea. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Of the 10 billion or so dollars that the government has received as part of assisting America in its war against terror, a mere ten per cent has been spent on socio-economic programmes -- the rest going to fund the requirements of the military.</span></b>
However, over the past few weeks, several stories in some well-known American newspapers have appeared, all more or less suggesting that some sections of the US government were unhappy with Islamabad over the use of the assistance indicating that it could have been diverted to purchasing weapons and financing other requirements of the military. (It has to be said that since the details of any agreement between Islamabad and Washington remain classified it would only be pure speculation to talk about the use of the funds by Islamabad given that one is not aware of any guidelines laid down by the Americans regulating it use).
The implication -- which came across as pretty much blunt in these reports -- was that in some instances, the Americans were of the view that the Pakistan government may well have been inflating the charges payable by Washington for logistical and other support by the Pakistani military. According to these reports, the mechanism which regulates the disbursement of these funds begins with vetting by the American embassy in Islamabad and going through various tiers of the US Defence Department, particularly the US Army's Central Command which is in charge of US military operations in southwest Asia. Then only this past week, a report suggested that around $70 million of the funds that Pakistan charged the US for its support in the war against terror had been held up -- probably as a consequence of continued pressure from Congress to the Bush administration to scrutinise more closely the receipts given by Islamabad.
Following these particular stories, one came across yet another -- and quite an explosive one. Again appearing in one of the main American papers, it quoted US officials (without naming them, of course -- making the job of the reporter and other stakeholders all the more easier) as saying that they were worried what would happen to a recently-developed plan by the Pentagon to engage more intensively with the Pakistani military, especially with regard to fighting the Taliban and their sympathisers in FATA. In passing, the story also mentioned a 'secret base' inside Pakistan from where the Americans launched their unmanned drones over FATA and the surrounding areas. Islamabad, for the record, has always denied any such base on its territory and has also always said that there are no American soldiers on its soil.
However, according to the new Pentagon plan, a significant number of US military trainers will come to Pakistan to train the Frontier Corps. In addition to this, reading between the lines of some of these stories gives one the distinct impression as if around 50 or so military trainers are already based in Pakistan. In any case, there would have to be at the very least some American military personnel at the said 'secret base.'
The officials in the story were quoted as being worried because they were not sure of the relationship between the new government and whether it would allow the US military to play the kind of role that it had achieved for itself with Musharraf in charge. This explains the spate of meetings the US ambassador to Pakistan has been having of late with Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif and the two visits by high-profile members of Congress to Islamabad on the day of the election and after.
Given that one of those who visited -- Senator Jospeh Biden (Democrat from Delaware) -- has actually publicly said that General Musharraf may leave the scene if allowed to do so gracefully, it would be fair to assume that the Americans are now thinking of life after Musharraf. However, in that they will try and ensure that whoever is in charge next -- other than General Kayani of course -- will not move away too much from giving the kind of leeway (at least from the point of view of most Pakistanis) that Musharraf had given them.
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In other developments, what else is one to make of a report (and not denied) in this newspaper, according to which, the caretaker prime minister approved a summary for giving lifetime perks to retired chairmen of the Senate. Even in normal circumstances, this kind of largesse would be in poor taste since a substantial portion of the population live below the poverty line and most middle-income Pakistanis find it hard to have a decent life making ends meet. What is particularly offensive is that in this case the person who approved the summary and the beneficiary were one and the same (conflict of interest can go to hell for all the caretaker PM/Senate chairman cares).
According to the report, the following 'privileges/facilities' will be available to former chairpersons of the Senate, their wives and dependent children. The list is long: free medical coverage for life (within Pakistan and abroad!), a private secretary for life, a security guard for life, a driver for life, a cook for life, access to government guest/rest houses free of charge (WHY!!??), installation of telephone free of charge and up to a limit of Rs 5,000 per month (no points for guessing who's going to pay for this -- you and me), free pick and drop with protocol from all airports in the country at government expense (WHY!!??), a staff car for use of former chairman, spouse and dependent children for travel throughout Pakistan (incredible!), security passes for airport entry including two for staff, diplomatic passports for life and apparently a lot more.
<b><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>Shameful!</span></b>
<i>The writer is Op-ed Pages Editor of The News. Email : omarq@cyber.net.pk</i>
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->