WASHINGTON – The U.S. military said it has made a final decision to cancel $300 million in aid to Pakistan that had been suspended over Islamabad’s perceived failure to take decisive action against militants, in a new blow to deteriorating ties.
The so-called Coalition Support Funds were part of a broader suspension in aid to Pakistan announced by President Donald Trump at the start of the year, when he accused Pakistan of rewarding past assistance with “nothing but lies & deceit.”
The Trump administration says Islamabad is granting safe haven to insurgents who are waging a 17-year-old war in neighboring Afghanistan, a charge Pakistan denies.
But U.S. officials had held out the possibility that Pakistan could win back that support if it changed its behavior.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, in particular, had an opportunity to authorize $300 million in CSF funds through this summer – if he saw concrete Pakistani actions to go after insurgents. Mattis chose not to, a U.S. official told Reuters.
“Due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy the remaining $300 (million) was reprogrammed,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner said. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Defense Secretary James Mattis authorized the National Guard troops deployed to the southwest border to stay there for another year, the Pentagon confirmed Friday.
Mattis granted a 12-month extension of the current deployment order, which authorizes up to 4,000 guardsmen to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents until Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.
The extension permits the same deployment through Sept. 30, 2019, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jamie Davis told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“It’s the same mission, the same set up,” Davis said.
The border deployment, dubbed Operation Guardian Support, kicked off April 13 in response to President Donald Trump’s call to use the military to guard against rising illegal immigration. A joint operation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the mission aims to provide surveillance and logistical support to border agents, freeing them up to interdict drug and human smuggling.- READ MORE
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