Rejection of Aid Shows Depth of Pakistani Anger

Re: “Rejecting U.S. aid hurts Pakistan’s poor,” Oct. 20

The Associated Press criticizes Pakistan’s Punjab province for rejecting U.S. aid, writing that “a cut would be felt most acutely by Pakistan’s poor.”

This is not true. As Imran Khan of Pakistan’s Movement for Justice described last month, “We need reforms, but this aid stops any real reform. If any money goes to the Pakistan government, it will not reach the people who need it.” As Rep. Ron Paul said in the last GOP presidential debate: “Foreign aid gives money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.”

Punjab’s rejection of aid shows how much Pakistanis hate U.S. involvement. Our military has killed thousands of civilians since 2004, each time using foreign aid as a bribe to quiet government criticism. Even after Punjab’s Assembly unanimously condemned them, U.S. strikes have continued. This affront to justice is what drives Pakistani militancy and toleration of the Taliban.