Despite several members branding Pakistan a “duplicitous” and “unreliable” partner, the US Senate on Thursday rejected a joint resolution to block the sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to that country.
However, a top lawmaker — Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker — said he will use his power to bar the use of US funds for the $700 million deal, but did not oppose the sale per se.
The joint resolution, introduced by Republican
Senator Rand Paul to prevent the sale under the Arms Control Act of 1976, was defeated by 71 to 24 votes.
Making a strong push for blocking the sale, Paul questioned Pakistan’s credentials as a credible ally in the battle against terrorism, commenting, “Though the Pakistan Government has been considered America’s ally in the fight on terrorism, Pakistan’s behaviour would suggest otherwise.”
“The US and the Pakistan relationship has been a troubled one,” Paul said in his remarks on the Senate floor, noting, “While we give them billions of dollars in aid, we are simultaneously aware of their intelligence and military apparatus assisting the Afghan Taliban.”
According to Senator Paul, over $300 million from American taxpayers will go towards paying for the eight new F-16s for Pakistan.
Paul said that in addition to its “duplicitous nature” of supporting terrorism, Pakistan also had a deplorable human rights record, saying the country “often isolates and unjustly jails religious minorities and Christians”.
The Senator from Kentucky also slammed Islamabad for the continued detention of Dr Shakil Afridi, who helped the US locate and kill Osama Bin laden.
Remarking that Pakistan should not require a “bribe” if it wanted to be a true US ally helping in the “war on radical Islam”, Paul said the country already has 70 F-16 fighter jets. “They’ve got an air force of F-16s. What would happen if we didn’t send them eight more that we’re being asked to pay forIJ”
Senator Corker, while not objecting to the sale as such, spoke of his opposition to using US taxpayer dollars for the purpose “given that Pakistan is providing safe haven to terrorist groups and refusing to target the Haqqani network, which attacks US troops and threatens the future of Afghanistan”.
In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last month, Corker had indicated that he would “use his authority as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to oppose any US financing that would support Pakistan’s purchase of the F-16s”.
“Prohibiting a taxpayer subsidy sends a much-needed message to Pakistan that it needs to change its behaviour, but preventing the purchase of US aircraft would do more harm than good by paving the way for countries like Russia and China to sell to Pakistan while also inhibiting greater cooperation on counterterrorism,” he said.