Thursday, January 17, 2008

Nice of them to finally get around to it...

We all know that Benazir Bhutto was assasinated on Dec 27. One wonders why it took the Democrat controlled House of Representatives until January 16 to adopt a resolution condemning the assasination. I guess it must have taken them that long how to figure out how they could use it to bash Bush and diss Musharraf:

"The Bush Administration must continue to press the Pakistani government to ensure that the coming election is free and fair. It is important to note, my colleagues and Madam Speaker, that the 9/11 Commission recommendations, which were passed by this body and were signed into law last year, conditioned U.S. assistance to Pakistan by the cooperation on Pakistani government with global efforts against terrorism. Since 2001, Pakistan has received nearly $10 billion in U.S. assistance. The Bush Administration has repeatedly certified that our assistance would facilitate Pakistan's transition to democracy. We clearly have not seen enough progress in this area.

"Troubling questions have been raised about our assistance to Pakistan - that it has not been properly monitored and that the Pakistani government may be using it for purposes other than those that were intended. Last year, under the leadership of Chairwoman Nita Lowey and Ranking Member Frank Wolf of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of Appropriations, our legislation shifted economic assistance for Pakistan from going directly to the Musharraf government to going directly to the Pakistani people on the ground. Indeed, this was a step forward and a recognition of the concerns that we have about how that aid was being used in Pakistan.