LAHORE: The Pakistan government and the country’s military top brass has developed serious differences over certain observations made in the Kerry-Lugar Bill, with the Pakistani security and intelligence establishment asking the elected leadership to simply reject the American financial assistance Bill.
According to well placed military circles in Rawalpindi, Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani has made it clear to the decision makers in Islamabad that certain observations made in the Kerry-Lugar Bill were meant to degrade the Pakistani security establishment and that the Obama administration should be made to understand Islamabad’s right to decide issues of national security and foreign policy. The sources said the Pakistani Army Chief, during his October 6 meeting in Islamabad with Commander of International Forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal, has already conveyed the security establishment’s serious reservations. According to the sources, General Kayani told McChrystal that like the Pakistani people, the military and intelligence services were furious at the observations made on Pakistan’s security establishment in the Kerry-Lugar Bill.
“General McChrystal returned from the GHQ with a clear message that the terms set in the Kerry-Lugar Bill on the national security interests of Pakistan are simply insulting and unacceptable in their present formulation,” according to an official familiar with the content of the meeting. Informed official sources said that the Pakistan Army’s strong reaction to the Kerry-Lugar Bill has also been shared in detail with the government when General Kayani met Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani on October 6. The Pakistani opposition parties led by the Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League have too rejected the Kerry-Lugar Bill, saying it was less an assistance programme than a treaty of surrender.
According to well placed military circles in Rawalpindi which also houses the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Pakistan Army, the Kerry-Lugar Bill and its impact on national security interests of Pakistan was a key subject of discussion when the corps commanders and principal staff officers of the Pakistan Army met at the GHQ on October 7, with General Kayani in the chair. The American Bill reportedly consumed a fair share of the military commanders’ time, most of whom were critical of certain clauses of the Bill, especially the one which states that the US aid to Pakistan could be suspended at any time in case of a military intervention.
The most contentious parts of the otherwise pro-democracy US document that are viewed as highly intrusive by certain circles are three certifications that the American secretary of state is required to provide to congressional committees for continuing security assistance and the format of monitoring reports. The certifications include confirmation that the government continues to cooperate in investigating nuclear proliferators; is making sustained efforts against terrorists, including blocking support by elements within the military and intelligence network for terrorists, taking action against terrorist bases and acting on intelligence about high-value targets provided to it; and that the security forces are not subverting the political and judicial processes.
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