Pakistan's military aid missing target

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. government expressed concern that the Pakistani government isn't serious in its counter-terrorism efforts, which is funded largely with U.S. aid.

Pakistan receives nearly $150 million a month from the United States in the form of military hardware and cash. Pakistan receives more military aid from the United States than any other country, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Critics, however, suggest the aid isn't being used efficiently in the counter-terrorism effort.

Seth Jones, a U.S. foreign policy and Afghanistan expert with the Rand Corp., told the Post that the Pakistan military “is not very effective, and there have been elements of the government that have worked with the Taliban in the tribal areas in the past.”

Other critics said Pakistan is targeting cash aid at larger weapons systems, such as its F-16 Fighting Falcon program, rather than funding its counterinsurgency programs.

Pakistani officials counter that while there is slow progress in the counter-terrorism efforts there, stringent U.S. monitoring over equipment and aid hampers the overall effort.

“Is our military effort going as well as we hoped? No. But is Iraq going as well as hoped?” Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Mahmud Ali Durrani, said in the Post.