A top Republican lawmaker today accused Pakistan of "outright blatant duplicity" when it comes to the fight against terrorism as he slammed the Obama administration for using US taxpayers' money to give F-16 fighter jets to the Pakistan army.
"They (Pakistan) have asked to be able to purchase F-16s. I'd rather them purchase them from a US company than some other company, but they also want US taxpayers to subsidise more than half of that purchase over time," Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee said.
"Do you agree with my position that that should not occur until they stop the duplicity that has continued for 14 years while we've been in Afghanistan?" Corker asked Secretary of State John Kerry during his testimony before the hearing on State Department's annual budgetary proposals.
"We're evaluating all aspects of the counterterrorism efforts with respect to Pakistan's impact on Afghanistan obviously," Kerry said.
"I just met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif a few weeks ago, and we discussed our concerns about the need to rein in particular terrorist groups that are either homegrown in Pakistan or are using Pakistan as a sanctuary. And we've been very, very clear that they have to target all militant groups," Kerry said to a question from Corker.
Corker, who was in Afghanistan a few months ago, said he "witnessed continued duplicity on Pakistan's part, outright blatant duplicity, where they continue to support the Taliban, the Haqqani network, and give safe haven" to al-Qaeda.
"Most of us have been to the Waziristans and seen the tremendous amount of taxpayer money that's gone into changing the context of those areas, but they continue to give them safe haven," he said.
Corker alleged that the Pakistan army is not taking actions against terrorists.
"I do hope that ultimately you will support the position that I've laid out in my capacity as chairman that zero US taxpayer dollars will go to subsidise Pakistan's purchase until such a time as they do the things that we know they could do to stop helping to destabilise Afghanistan, where men and women in US uniforms have lost their limbs, lives and huge amounts of taxpayer monies have gone to support a country as it evolves in democracy and anti-corruption and other ways," he said.
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The Committee noted that Pakistan has been a long- standing strategic partner of the US and believes that the bilateral relationship between the two countries will continue to be strong and enduring.
It said it recognises that some have criticised security assistance for Pakistan in recent years.
"However, the committee believes that security and stability within the borders of Pakistan is vital to the stability of the region and to transregional efforts to combat terrorism more broadly," the report said.
The committee said in this context, it notes with concern that terrorist attacks continue to plague Pakistan and strongly supports efforts by the country's government to take steps to degrade and defeat terrorist networks and activities within its own borders.
"For these reasons, the committee believes that security assistance for Pakistan should continue," the Senate Armed Services Committee said.
"To ensure sustainability and viability over the long- term, the committee also believes that security assistance for Pakistan should transition to a bilateral programme focussed on the stability and security of Pakistan, rather than the more narrow previous focus of Coalition Support Funds, which were based on the country's support for coalition operations in Afghanistan," the report said.
Noting that the coalition presence and mission in Afghanistan continue to evolve, the committee expressed its concern that, if left unchanged, continued reliance on coalition support funds for the provision of security assistance to Pakistan could negatively impact US support of Pakistani operations to combat terrorism.
