Pakistan Has Some ‘Splainin’ To Do

by David Trumbull -- May 13, 2011

On May 3rd Congressman Ted Poe (Republican, Texas) introduced the Pakistan Foreign Aid Accountability Act. This legislation will prohibit any foreign aid from being sent to Pakistan until it can demonstrate that it had no knowledge of Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts. This legislation would require the State Department to certify to Congress that Pakistan was not providing a sanctuary for the world’s most wanted terrorist.

“Pakistan has a lot of explaining to do. It seems unimaginable that Osama Bin Laden was living 1,000 yards away from a military base in a million dollar mansion built especially for him and no one in the Pakistani government knew about it. I don’t buy it,” said Rep. Poe.

“Congress has already appropriated $3 billion to Pakistan for this year. Unless the State Department can certify to Congress that Pakistan was not harboring America’s number one enemy, Pakistan should not receive one more cent of American aid. This is exactly why we need to reevaluate the foreign aid that we send to countries that do not have America’s best interest in mind.”

Senator Rand Paul (Republican, Kentucky) said in a May 3rd article in Politico was quoted as saying, “I don’t think we can borrow money from China and give it to anybody; I don’t think that makes any sense.”

Meanwhile, Bay State Republican Senator Scott Brown has reminded us we still have a job to complete in that part of the world. On May 2nd, Senator Brown issued this statement:

“As a Lieutenant Colonel in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, I have service obligations that I fulfill each year. Following in the tradition of other lawmakers who have completed their military service requirements overseas, this year I have requested to conduct my annual training in Afghanistan. Doing so will help me to better understand our ongoing mission in that country, and provide me first-hand experience for my duties on the Senate Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs committees.”

Godspeed, Senator Brown. And may God Bless the United States of America.

More meetings yet to be arranged.

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