Last week was a new low for the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, beginning with a stormy tweet message from the U.S. president and culminating in cutting off U.S. security assistance to Islamabad. This included $255 million in Foreign Military Financing and about $900 million in the Coalition Support Fund (CSF). In response, Pakistan’s foreign minister declared that the United States is a “friend who always betrays.”

Historically, Washington has provided Pakistan three types of assistance: military, economic and the CSF funds. The CSF, seen by Pakistan as reimbursement for operations conducted by its troops inside Pakistan, has served as a slush fund that Islamabad uses to farm terrorism.

Make no mistake, Trump is neither wrong nor is he the first U.S. president to criticize Pakistan for its deceit and cut off American assistance.

Read the full article at The Hill.

 

Javid Ahmad, a non-resident fellow at Modern War Institute at West Point, is a fellow at the Atlantic Council. Follow him on Twitter: @ahmadjavid.

The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Point, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or any agency of the US government.