F-16 sale to Pak will go through

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers blasted the Bush administration on Thursday for ignoring the Congress in the matter of the sale of advanced F-16 fighter planes worth $5 billion to the Pakistan Air Force, but also expressed helplessness that there is little they could do to stop the imminent sale of 18 Lockheed Martin jets and an additional upgrade of the existing 26 planes in its fleet.

A sub-plot of the debate in the House International Relations Committee turned out to be support for India, with Indophile Congressmen like Frank Pallone, Gary Ackerman and Eni Faleomavaega openly opposing the deal at a time when India has pointed fingers at Pakistan-based extremist groups to be responsible for the bombings in Mumbai earlier this month that killed more than 200 people. They were joined by Congressmen Brad Sherman, Diane Watson and Dana Rohrabacher in opposing the deal.

The deal will go through unless a resolution is passed in both houses of Congress within 30 days, a time frame that runs out on July 28. Even if it does happen before that, President Bush has the power veto the resolution unless the Congress again decides to override the veto by a two-third majority. That seems improbable in a Republican majority Congress.

Capitol Hill insiders told DNA that the sale of F-16s to Pakistan is seen as a balance to the nuclear agreement that US will soon have with India. The first sale of F-16s to Pakistan announced last year was to be of much greater value, but then the earthquake in PoK late last year crippled Pakistan’s finances and the deal was brought down to $5 billion.

“The Bush administration wants to maintain a balance of power in South Asia. This sale is important in that sense despite the state of Pakistan’s economy,” a source told DNA.

Ranking Democratic Member Tom Lantos, who is also the co-author of the House version of the US-India N-agreement, supported the deal saying it is in Pakistan’s legitimate defence interests and added that it won’t significantly affect the balance of power in South Asia.

What he was opposed to was the ignoring of the Congress in the sale of advanced avionics to Pakistan. The result of this Congressional anger was a new legislation that requires the State Department to update the Congress every quarter on the sale of arms to any country and also a 20-day consultation period before the State Department formally notifies Congress of a proposed sale.

Lantos also expressed concern that US avionics and technology sent to Pakistan will be shared with other countries. “Pak export controls are so lax that it allowed sale of its nuclear crown jewels by AQ Khan to countries like N Korea and Iran,” he said. He later submitted his own security plan for the aircraft to Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns.

Congressman Brad Sherman suggested the deal be put on hold. He said, “Operatives from China will be looking at the technology. Hundreds of Pakistani engineers will be aware of the plans and they can take  them to the Chinese.” He added that the other condition for putting the deal on hold was “Pakistan’s cooperation in the investigation in the killing of hundreds in Mumbai.”

Another leading Congressman Gary Ackerman said: “I do not believe that Pakistan needs F-16’s to assist us in the war on terror. In particular, I do not believe that these planes will help us or Pakistan in the war against Al Qaeda along the Pak-Afghan border, unless Al Qaeda has suddenly fighter jets of their own.”

On the administration’s side was John Hillen, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs and the man who is the lead coordinator between the US State and Defence departments. He said in a testimony that the consultations with the Congress were unprecedented. With both sides – the Congress and the Bush administration – not coming to any kind of resolution over the nitty-gritty of the sale, it is quite clear that 18 F-16s would be reaching Pakistan, most probably before the end of the year.