$500 Million of Additional Foreign Aid to Pakistan?!?

The Obama Administration has announced that Pakistan has been granted $500m of additional foreign aid which will be used to pay for various non-military causes and to combat "rampant anti-Americanism".

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday unveiled $500 million worth of civilian aid projects for key ally Pakistan, in an attempt to counter rampant anti-Americanism in the country by reaching out to the population with tangible help.

The aim of the projects was to show that the U.S. relationship "goes far beyond security," and they ranged from restoring a historical fort to boosting mango exports. The money is part of the $1.5 billion a year pledged to Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar bill, named for Sens. John Kerry, D- Mass, and Richard Lugar, R- Ind, the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It represents a tripling of U.S. civilian aid to the country.

Since 2001, Pakistanis have complained that the United States was using their country for U.S. security aims alone, with all benefits going to Pakistan's dominant military apparatus. The Obama administration says it's determined to change that perception."

The US should not be bribing the Pakistani people in order to sway their negative opinion about our current military policies. Instead, the U.S. should shut down the Afghanistan war and get out of Pakistan altogether.

It's preposterous, naive and foolish to think that simply by paying for a few public works projects (assuming this foreign "aid" doesn't immediately get siphoned off by the entrenched government and get sent to a private bank account in Switzerland) the Pakistani people will warmly embrace the active role we demand of them in the Afghanistan War.

Let's just end the war, declare victory, bring the troops home and separate them from armed service and dedicate the tax dollars no longer used in that needless and useless military endeavor towards reducing our public debt.

On the other hand, with skyrocketing budget deficits now measured in the trillions of dollars, it perhaps might be easy to think of any spending item that numbers in the millions as being "inconsequential".

However, these items all add up and if Congress were serious about corralling its out-of-control spending, they must focus on reigning in all areas of government spending.