Editorial: Anti-terrorism funds wasted

Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007 | 7:28 a.m.

Thursday's assassination of Benazir Bhutto is drawing renewed attention to the fact that Pakistan is home to a growing number of anti-Western extremists, including members of the Taliban and al-Qaida.

Many of the reports mention the Bush administration's special aid to the Pakistan government. Since 9/11, the aid has totaled more than $5 billion. Its purpose is to provide elite units of Pakistan's military forces with the weapons and gear they need to fight terrorists in the border regions, where many of them retreated after U.S.-led forces attacked Afghanistan following 9/11.

A report in The New York Times this week, though, disclosed that much of the $5 billion has been misspent. It recounted the observation of a U.S. government official who recently visited Pakistan's border region.

Soldiers were "standing there in the snow in sandals," the official told the paper. The official also said he found Pakistani soldiers wearing World War I-era helmets and carrying barely functional rifles with just 10 rounds of ammunition apiece.

Confidential sources within the Bush administration, the Pakistani government and diplomatic circles told the four reporters who wrote the article that Pakistan has diverted much of the special U.S. aid to other uses, such as buying weapons to achieve a balance of power with its old enemy, India.

What is happening in Pakistan is similar to what is happening in Iraq - billions of dollars being wasted because the Bush administration has not instituted proper spending controls.

More than just money is at stake when accountability is forsaken. Resurgence of the Taliban, al-Qaida and like-minded extremists in Pakistan's border regions - and the possibility that Osama bin Laden is hiding in northwest Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan - are deadly consequences of not following the money. Bhutto's assassination is a tragic demonstration of how dangerous those enemies are.

We support the intended purpose of this special aid to Pakistan. But we also support, as recommended by U.S. military officials quoted in the Times article, a complete restructuring of how the aid is delivered.