A top Republican Senator has asked his colleagues in the Senate to join him in opposing the sale of eight nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, saying it was “past time” to demand accountability from the country whose “coziness” with terrorists has harmed the US military. “Selling military hardware to Pakistan — with a generous subsidy from American taxpayers — is no way to convince them to become responsible players in the international community and assist in the fight against terrorism,” Rand Paul said.
“It is past time to stand up and demand greater accountability from Pakistan — that it fully severs its ties with terrorist organisations, and that it respect the rights of its own people,” Paul said in an official correspondence to other members of the US Senate.