KARACHI: A resolution to cut most of the United States' funding to Pakistan has been quietly tabled in the US House of Representatives, even as the two countries' relationship continued to totter dangerously in a furore over scathing and unprecedented allegations by US officials against ISI.
The serious deterioration in bilateral ties began last week after scathing remarks by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who openly accused the ISI of maintaining links with the Haqqani network. On the very same evening Congressman Ted Poe, Republican of Texas, tabled H.R. 3013, also known as the Pakistan Accountability Act, a piece of legislation which, if passed by Congress, will freeze all US aid to Pakistan with the exception of funds that are designated to help secure nuclear weapons.
In a blunt statement to the House following the introduction of the Act, Mr Poe said, "Since the discovery of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan has proven to be disloyal, deceptive and a danger to the US." He added that the "so-called ally continues to take billions in US aid while at the same time supports the militants who attack us".
Poe said by continuing to provide aid to Pakistan, the US was funding the enemy, endangering Americans and undermining US efforts in the region all together. In a strong speech on the floor of the House Poe argued, "We pay them to hate us, now we pay them to bomb us. Let's not pay them at all." If passed by Congress and signed into law by the White House, the Act would apply to any funds allocated for assistance to Pakistan that were not spent on or after such date, as per the text of the Bill.
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