45,000% increase in military aid to Pakistan

that's a staggering amount...

In the three years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. military aid to Pakistan soared to $4.2 billion, compared to $9.1 million in the three years before the attacks — a 45,000 percent increase — boosting Pakistan to the top tier of countries receiving this type of funding.

More than half of the new money was provided through a post-9/11 Defense Department program — Coalition Support Funds — not closely tracked by Congress.

This is a key finding of an investigative study by the Center for Public Integrity, using data assembled through Freedom of Information Act requests. Pakistan received $2.3 billion of post-9/11 aid from CSF money in fiscal years 2002 through 2004, a total that surpassed $3 billion in 2005. Not only did this earn it the No. 1 rank among nations receiving CSF money, but Pakistan's take was nearly four times as much as all other countries combined received by 2005.

"With the possible exception of Iraq reconstruction funds, I've never seen a larger blank check for any country than for the Pakistan CSF program," Tim Rieser, the majority clerk on the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, told the Center.

i follow u.s. arms sales off and on... i posted on this back in november...



and this last june...

The Bush administration's nuclear accord with India seems on track to easy passage in Congress, as the White House also proceeds with plans to equip Pakistan with F-16 fighter jets.

and this back in august 2005...

33.5% of all weapons contracts worldwide and 31.6% of contracts to the developing world are inked by our peace-loving nation... our hypocrisy is evidently limitless... oh, and by the way, $1.5B of that went to Pakistan and almost $5B to India...

and this in may of the same year...

the $1.3B u.s. weapons sale to pakistan, paid for by the u.s. department of defense, no less...

so, here's the question... how much of this money, arms, planes, weapons, and other equipment is going into the hands of people who shouldn't have it...? general musharraf certainly doesn't seem like the kind of democratic leader we are so fond of saying we want to see emerge in the islamic world...

(thanks to TPMmuckraker...)

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