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St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lee Enterprises

Thursday, October 15, 2009 8:44 PM CDT
Obama signs major Pakistan aid bill

By the ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law a $7.5 billion aid package for Pakistan that the U.S.-ally’s military criticized as American meddling in its internal affairs.

The measure provides $1.5 billion annually over five years for economic and social programs and comes as Pakistan faces a string of violent militant attacks and bombings as its military orchestrates an offensive into the Taliban heartland.

The law is the Obama administration’s attempt to strengthen the weak civilian government in Islamabad and encourage its fight against Taliban and al-Qaida militants operating along the border with Afghanistan, where the United States is fighting an eight-year war.

The stability of a nuclear-armed Pakistan is deemed crucial to U.S.-led efforts to battle extremists in South Asia.

The White House said the law, which was passed unanimously by Congress, is “the tangible manifestation of broad support for Pakistan in the U.S.”

But it was only signed after a rushed visit this week to Washington by Pakistan’s foreign minister, who secured assurances from senior lawmakers that the bill is not an attempt to micromanage operations by the country’s powerful military and the U.S.-backed civilian government.

The bill was not changed before Obama signed it. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., however, did provide an unusual written statement to accompany the bill that states that “any interpretation of this act which suggests that the United States does not fully recognize and respect the sovereignty of Pakistan would be directly contrary to congressional intent.”

The bill would provide Pakistan with $1.5 billion a year over the next five years to spend on democratic, economic and social development programs. Pakistan’s military and others, however, have objected to language that links money for counterterrorism assistance to Pakistan cracking down on militancy and meeting other conditions.

The congressional statement says that no conditions are placed on the $7.5 billion in nonmilitary aid.

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~STRANGER~ wrote on Oct 16, 2009 9:34 AM:

" There's people starving and schools struggling in this country,What's he doing working on getting next yrs nobel peace prize too? Must be nice to be able to throw taxpayers money around like he be havin it like that. "

Mama says wrote on Oct 17, 2009 5:07 AM:

" Prez, you need stop all this handing out and making US poorer when all of this would helped the poor families who on social security and no raise now.
Stop fighting others battles let them get the dough and do on their own. WE don't need to support the whole world.
Better START at home with food, shelter,
health care, then people can afford a new car, or a home, and just have couple good meals a day. At least being old will have a benefit one day when dead and gone and no more worries, frets, or woes on HOW WE GONNA MANAGE?
We ole folks should sell the properties and just RENT, no more property tax for us then. No more insurances, and repairs either. I thought retirement was the GOLDEN YEARS. I learned the golden years is that you wear DEPENDS or you know what goes down the legs. "

Hound Dog wrote on Oct 18, 2009 8:19 AM:

" What about hospital upgrades in New Orleans, where he just had a "flyover" and got criticised for not helping more there after Katrina. Yea, lets help everyone everywhere AFTER we help the U.S. first. "

mickeygarlock wrote on Oct 18, 2009 10:49 AM:

" Give me a break, We know how other counties pay us back. 911 and December 7th. "

Harry Potter wrote on Oct 18, 2009 5:49 PM:

" For those whining about this issue, I would remind you that Pakistan is now where the bulk of Al Qaeda is hiding out. Should we ignore that? We saw what happens when things are ignored with the 8 years of Bush and the economy. The Republican answer to our economic problems are tax cuts for the wealthy and more deregulation. We're living with the results of those policies, and unbelievably some are bashing the man trying to clean up the mess. "