Donald Trump criticizes Pakistan, says we get nothing for the billions of dollars of aid we give them.

President Donald Trump. Reuters. 

Donald Trump has criticized Pakistan saying that we get nothing for the billions of dollars of aid we have given them over the past few years. Reuters. The United States has given Pakistan $33 billion in aid over the past 15 years but President Trump says we have gotten little in return. Trump claims that Pakistan has provided sanctuary for terror groups, like the Taliban, who operate in Afghanistan. In response, the Defense Department does not plan to send $255 million this year. For it's part, Pakistan denies the claims and points out they have had tens of thousands of casualties in their battles against terrorists. 

The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018

My Comment:
This is a win-win for Trump. Setting aside the accusations against Pakistan for the moment, I do have to point out that his base will like this a lot. Many of us hate the millions of dollars of aid we sends to countries that hate us and feel that money would be better spent on Americans. Cutting aid to foreign countries is probably going to be fairly popular if people realize that he is doing so. Considering that fact was kinda buried in the Reuters report, and they are one of the outlets that at least pretends to be fair to him, I am guessing most people wouldn't have heard. I hadn't until I read this article.

Trump ran on being smarter about who we give our money to. He was always critical of the Obama administration spending on foreign governments and it was a major campaign promise to do better. It seems when it comes to Pakistan at least, he is trying to keep that promise.

As for Pakistan it's fairly clear that they are taking advantage of us. They haven't been able to cut down on the various terrorist factions that are operating in the country. Indeed, the tolerance that the Taliban have in Pakistan is a major reason the war in Afghanistan has lingered on for so long. The Taliban use Pakistan as a safe base to strike out against the Afghan government. Considering how much money we give them it's stupid that this is still true.

It is also true that Pakistan has fought against militants as well. They have suffered some truly brutal attacks and have lost quite a few men in combat. Indeed, Pakistan has long been a war zone and they have succeeded in largely destroying the al-Qaeda groups that operated in the country. They have fought quite hard.

Why the contradiction? Well, like most countries, Pakistan has different factions. Some of those factions, mostly in the regular army, are opposed to terrorists and fight them. Other factions, specifically in the intelligence services, are radicals that support groups like the Taliban. As long as that is true, it doesn't make much sense to support them, even if that means cutting off the ones that want to fight terrorists.

Of course cutting off support for the Pakistanis is also a way to gain leverage over them. They need that money, desperately and may offer concessions to get it back.  Given how many threats Pakistan faces, not only from terrorists but from India as well, they really can't afford to make us angry.

Our relationship with Pakistan has always been strained. Though they have occasionally helped us take out terrorists, they have also harbored them, including infamous al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin-Laden. I am hoping that the pressure Trump is putting on them will help change things. And if it doesn't? Well at least we will be saving millions of dollars that can go to more productive things.