WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump praised a bill that Senator RandPaul plans to introduce, aiming to cut all US aid to Pakistan, after the USState Department conditionally withheld security funding to the country.
“Good idea Rand!” Trump tweeted Friday night, sharing a video of SenatorRand Paul (R-Kentucky) promoting his bill to eliminate US aid to Pakistanand use that money towards domestic infrastructure projects.
The bill is expected to be introduced in the coming days.
In the video, Paul criticized Islamabad, which does not “deserve”US money,for what he alleges is its willingness to harbor terrorist groups, whilecontinuing to take assistance from Washington to the tune of billions ofdollars.
Pakistan and other countries “stonewall access to key information infighting terrorism,” the Kentucky senator says in the video. “Pakistandidn’t even help us find bin Laden,”Paul added, “even though he was livingin one of their cities for years.”
Paul, who calls himself a libertarian, ended the video message by callingfor all foreign aid to end, as part of an “America First policy.” Theposition was part of his 2016 presidential platform when he ran againstTrump in the Republican primary.
The senator, who has been both an ally and political foe of President Trumpon many issues, said he discussed a solution with the president on Tuesdaythat focused on spending some of the money that would otherwise be used inaid to Pakistan to build up US infrastructure at home, according to theWashington Examiner.
In his first tweet in 2018, the US leader lashed outlink> atIslamabad, saying it was “giving safe haven to the terrorists,” repeatinghis hardline stance on the country that he initially voiced in August 2017.He also threatened to cut aid. On January 2, US envoy to the UN Nikki Haleysaid that the US is freezing $255 million in assistance to Pakistan, whichwas suspended in August of last year. Accusing Islamabad of playing “adouble game for years,” she said the US expects “far more cooperation fromPakistan in the fight against terrorism.” On Thursday, State Departmentspokesperson Heather Nauert announcedlink> the suspension ofsecurity assistance without elaborating on the exact amount.
The security aid suspension will also impact at least $900 million incoalition support funds (CSF) authorized for Pakistan for the 2017 fiscalyear. The CSF reimburseslink>Pakistan forcounter-terrorism operations and accounts for the majority of US aid, whichtotals more than $33 million over the past 15 years.
The US rhetoric has provoked fury in Pakistan, with people taking to thestreets to burn Trump’s effigy and portraits along with US flags. Islamabadfirmly denied allegations of harboring terrorists and inaction in the fightagainst extremists, and pointed out that Washington has used its bases toattack terrorists in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s foreign minister, KhawajaAsif, said that Pakistan “went through a bloodbath”after “blindly” trustingWashington, and Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan vowedlink> a“cold-bloodedresponse” to the intention to withhold aid to Pakistan.