US Billions in Pakistan Wasted

Billions of dollars the US gave to Pakistan to bolster counterterrorism efforts against al-Qaeda apparently have been diverted to prop up President Pervez Musharraf's government and finance weapons systems aimed at India, reports the New York Times. Because the US has failed to properly monitor military aid programs, progress against terror organizations is "bleak," said one official, and Pakistanis have made no progress nabbing mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Pakistan routinely overstates the costs of fuel, ammunition and weapons by as much as a third to get inflated reimbursements from the US, some observers estimate. “We didn’t have to give them money this way," said an American military official. Pakistani authorities deny the accusations, but one European diplomat remarked: "I wonder if the Americans have not been taken for a ride." (More Pakistan stories.)