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Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Bill: Suggested Amendments

Dear Senator [last name]:

The Indian American Task Force on Terrorism comprises several leading Indian American organizations and the community leaders representing more than 2 million US citizens of Indian origin. This task force was created by the Indian American community leaders in the aftermath of dastardly terrorist attacks in India that started on November 26, 2008 and continued for three days while the world watched in horror on live television. The Islamic Jihadi terrorists from Pakistan killed 180 people, including 6 fellow US citizens. The Pakistan government has recently acknowledged that terrorist attacks were planned, at least in part, and launched from Pakistan territory.

The Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Bill (the "Bill") that was originally introduced in the last Congress as the Biden-Lugar bill is expected to be reintroduced in the Senate as the Kerry-Lugar bill in the coming days. While the proposed Kerry-Lugar bill has not yet been introduced and we have not seen it, we have been advised that it will be substantially the same as the Biden-Lugar Bill. Our comments in this letter and references to specific sections are to the original Biden-Lugar Bill.

We are encouraged by the fact that the proposed US assistance under this legislation is meant to promote political pluralism, equality, rule of law, human and civil rights, etc. (Section 5 (d).) We are also encouraged by the fact that under the Bill any security-related assistance is explicitly meant to improve Pakistan’s capabilities in "areas of mutual concern" and to bring "significant gains" in efforts to "prevent any Pakistani territory from being used as a base or conduit of terrorist attacks", coordinate military and paramilitary action against terrorist targets" and "bring peace, stability and development to all regions of Pakistan." (Section 5 (c).)

We are in favor of the proposed US aid to Pakistan. However, we have a few concerns about the Bill which we believe can be easily addressed by appropriate amendments.

Concerns and Recommendations

Concern No. 1

Section 3.3 defines "counterterrorism" as efforts to combat al Qaeda and "other foreign terrorist organizations that are designated by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1189) or other individuals and entities engaged in terrorist activity or support for such terrorist activity."

This definition explicitly includes groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and other groups that have been principally responsible for virtually all terrorist attacks in India and are now a serious threat to both the UK and the US, vide:

• report in The Telegraph newspaper of England dated February 9, 2009 - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4550144/CIA-warns- Barack-Obama-that-British-terrorists-are-the-biggest-threat-to-the-US.html; and a
• report in the Chicago Tribune dated March 8, 2009 - http://www.chicagotribune.com:80/news/nationworld/chi-us-pakistan_bdmar08,0,263744.story

However, the other parts of the Bill are not as clear in defining such terrorist organizations. For example, Section 6 (c)(1) requires certification from the Secretary of State that Pakistan is "making concerted efforts to prevent al Qaeda and associated terrorist groups from operating in its territory."

We believe "terrorist groups" in this section and other parts of the Bill should be defined consistent with Section 3.3 of the Bill, that is "other foreign terrorist organizations that are designated by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1189), or other individuals and entities engaged in terrorist activity or support for such terrorist activity." We believe such an amendment to the Bill is essential to ensure consistency throughout the legislation and to avoid ambiguity and disputes as to its interpretation in the future.

Concern No. 2

Under section 6 of the Bill, military assistance under the Arms Export Control Action and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 – including "major defense equipment" – is to be subject to certification by the Secretary of State that Pakistan is making concerted efforts against terrorism and the Taliban, and that its military is not interfering in the political or judicial processes.

However, these limitations can easily be waived "in the national security interests of the United States," based on classified or unclassified information. We request that the waiver authorized under section 6(d) of the Bill be revisited. The Bill, as currently phrased, enables a continuation of US government policy of continuing aid and arms sales to Pakistan despite the lack of democratic progress or the Pakistani security forces’ duplicity in the US-led efforts against al Qaeda, other terrorist organizations and the Taliban.

We believe that stringent conditions should be imposed before such a certificate may be issued by the Secretary of State. In addition, such aid should be explicitly made subject to visible outcome rather than to process (concerted effort.) For example, Pakistan could be required to make a showing of tangible progress or credible steps to prevent al Qaeda and associated terrorist groups, including groups designated by the United States as terrorist organizations, from operating in the territory of Pakistan.

In addition, Pakistan must show credible steps taken by it to dismantle the existing terrorist infrastructure throughout its territory and arrest and prosecute terrorist leaders. Otherwise, it is highly doubtful that any significant progress will be made in terms of accomplishing the goals of this legislation set forth in Section 5 of the Bill and it will unfortunately continue to be business as usual.

Concern No. 3

The Bill contains many long-overdue steps to ensure more careful US monitoring of the funds. (See e.g., § 5(h)(2)(c).) This section states that the President’s annual report to the Congress must detail the assistance provided, including " a list of persons or entities who have received funds in excess of $25,000 to conduct projects . . . and an assessment of the effectiveness of the project or projects. . ."

At the same time, the Bill is not clear how this assistance to Pakistan will be dispensed. In other words, the Bill is short on specifics. We believe that detailed and specific measures should be included concerning the monitoring of the US assistance under this Bill, to ensure that such funds are not used to enrich the Pakistan military establishment or leadership, or used to purchase military equipment or technology that can be used against the United States or its allies, including India.

Respectfully,