Pakistan Snapshot: US Rejects 40% of Funding Claims from Pakistani Military (Entous)

Adam Entous reports for The Wall Street Journal about a latest sign of the tensions between Washington and Islamabad. Beyond the headline claims are even more interesting questions. For example, who in the US Administration, probably the Pentagon, fed Entous the story with the leaked documents and the interviews?

The U.S. and Pakistan are engaged in a billing dispute of sizable proportions, sparring behind closed doors over billions of dollars Washington pays Islamabad to fight al Qaeda and other militants along the Afghanistan border.

Washington, increasingly dubious of what it sees as Islamabad's mixed record against militants, has been quietly rejecting more than 40% of the claims submitted by Pakistan as compensation for military gear, food, water, troop housing and other expenses, according to internal Pentagon documents. Those records, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, detail $3.2 billion in expense claims submitted to the U.S. for operations from January 2009 through June 2010.

According to the documents and interviews with officials, Pakistan has routinely submitted requests that were unsubstantiated, or were deemed by the U.S. to be exaggerated or of little or no use in the war on terror --- underscoring what officials and experts see as a deep undercurrent of mistrust between the supposed allies.

For example, the Pakistani army billed the U.S. $50 million for "hygiene & chemical" expenses, of which the U.S. agreed to pay only $8 million, according to records covering January 2009 through June 2010. Pakistan's Joint Staff—the country's top military brass—requested $580,000 in 2009 to cover food, medical services, vehicle repair and other expenses, but the U.S. paid nothing.

In one case in the past year, the U.S. paid millions to refurbish four helicopters to help Pakistan's army transport troops into battle against Taliban and other militants. But the Pakistanis ended up diverting three of those aircraft to peacekeeping duties in Sudan—operations for which Islamabad receives compensation from the United Nations, U.S. officials said.

"This is about how much money Pakistan can extract," said Moeed Yusuf, South Asia adviser for the United States Institute of Peace, an independent research organization funded by Congress.

The billing spat has exacerbated tensions between the countries, which reached a nadir after the U.S. raided the compound of Osama bin Laden without informing Pakistani authorities. On Monday, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry in Islamabad said the U.S. wants to hit "the reset button" to warm relations between the countries.

Pakistani officials deny they are trying to bilk the U.S. and say the increased American scrutiny has sent the message to the Pakistanis that Washington considers the army to be full of cheats. A senior Pakistani official called this "detrimental to bilateral trust." The official says Islamabad understands the need for some scrutiny but said the U.S. has gone too far: "People have to give a receipt for every cup of tea they drink or every kilometer they drive."

U.S. officials say the relationship with Pakistan remains deeply important and they praise the army for sending more than 145,000 troops to the tribal areas for operations that resulted in heavy casualties.

Nevertheless, U.S. officials say Pakistani claims have been rejected for a number of reasons, including failure to confirm that expenses were incurred in support of U.S. operations in Afghanistan and the war on terror. Some U.S. officials also fear that some of the aid is being diverted to the border with Pakistan's traditional rival, India.

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