U.S. wants counterterror funds for Pakistan F-16s

Enlarge Photo A Pakistani Air Force F-16 fighter jet flies during the National Day parade in Islamabad...

Fri, Jul 25 12:15 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration has proposed shifting $226.5 million in U.S. counterterrorism aid to Pakistan to upgrade Pakistani F-16 fighters, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

The plan has provoked some opposition in the U.S. Congress, where an influential lawmaker questioned how upgraded F-16s, which are widely seen as aimed at countering any threat from India, would be used against al Qaeda and Taliban forces.

U.S. officials have long been frustrated at what they view as Pakistan's failure to do enough to combat militants along its border with Afghanistan, where the United States has some 35,000 troops, many of whom are fighting a Taliban insurgency.

News of the proposal to shift the funds broke ahead of next week's White House meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and U.S. President George W. Bush, triggering speculation that the Bush administration was trying to curry favor with the newly elected Pakistani leader.

A State Department official denied this, saying the timing was dictated by the need to make a payment to the military contractor that would upgrade the planes, Lockheed Martin Corp, by the end of July.

The New York Times first reported the Bush administration's decision to ask U.S. lawmakers to shift the money. The White House and the State Department later confirmed the request.

"The F-16s that they have are used in counterterrorism operations," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "We made them available to the Pakistanis and they need to be maintained."

The new Pakistani government is facing economic pressures partly from rising food and energy prices and needs aid from the United States, she said. U.S. officials said paying for the F-16 upgrades would free up money for other purposes.

PAKISTAN'S 'CASH-FLOW PROBLEMS'

"This shift comes about as a result of a request from the newly elected Pakistani government, partly because of their cash-flow problems and partly because they are re-evaluating the equipment they need to fight the war on terror," said a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"NATO forces use F-16s right across the border ... in Afghanistan for similar purposes and frankly, Pakistan has already used its F-16s in sorties against terrorist targets," the State Department official said. "So it's a legitimate use and it supports a democratic government."

Rep. Nita Lowey, the New York Democrat who chairs the State and foreign operations subcommittee of the powerful House appropriations committee, said in a written statement that the administration's request "raises serious concerns."

"Congress provided these funds specifically for counter-terrorism and law enforcement," she said. "It is incumbent on the State Department and Pakistan to demonstrate clearly how these F-16s would be used to fight al Qaeda and the Taliban in order to get congressional support."

Asked if the U.S. request was designed to curry favor with Gilani, the State Department official replied: "No, we're not that good.

"This has been under discussion for a while," he said. "We are trying to work with the new elected government and this is part of that but it's not specifically to curry favor for one particular visit."

Speaking on Wednesday, Lisa Curtis, a South Asia expert at the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington, said that to address U.S. frustration over Pakistan's failure to do more to fight militants along its border with Afghanistan "Pakistan is going to have to adjust its strategic perspective.

"It's going to have to make defeating the Taliban, rather than countering India, its main focus," she said.

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