US "Makes it Rain" in Pakistan

Recalling PacMan Jones and his strip club forays, it looks like the US is just handing out cash in Pakistan. 'Cuz y'know, we don't have any bridges to repair or people to put to work or computer-based training systems to enhance USMC usage of DVTE software to build.

The United States has released $656 million to Pakistan for some of the costs incurred last year in military operations against Taliban militants, a U.S. embassy spokesman said on Tuesday.

The funds are part of a programme called the coalition support fund (CSF), a U.S. programme used to reimburse countries that have incurred costs in supporting counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations.

Pakistan, a vital ally for the United States as it struggles to stabilise Afghanistan and end the global threat posed by al Qaeda and its allies, has been heavily burdened by the cost of battling Taliban insurgents along its Afghan border.

The Taliban in Pakistan said it planted a bomb in New York's Times Square at the weekend to avenge the killing in April of al Qaeda's two top leaders in Iraq as well as U.S. interference in Muslim countries.

Pakistan vowed on Tuesday to help the United States bring to justice a Pakistani-American arrested in connection with the failed attack.

Of the latest CSF amount released, $188 million was transfered last week and another $468 million on Monday, said embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire.

By: Brant