The Trump Administration has published $ 397 million for a program backed by the United States in Pakistan that a Congress assistant said he monitored the use of the latter of F-16 combat aircraft made in the United States to ensure that they were employed for operations for operations anti -terrorists and not against rival India.
The measure was part of a launch of $ 5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, mainly for security and anterarcotic programs, according to a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters That included only limited humanitarian relief.
According to the specific defense and analysis group of Pakistan Quwa, the funds will support the Technical Security Team (TST), a contingent of contractors present in Pakistan to supervise the use of F-16 under “Strict Final Use Monitoring Rules, which, which They seem to demand the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) only use the F-16, especially the new F-16C/D BLOCE-52 combatants, for counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism operations ”.
He pointed out that the supervision “was not new”, and added that the TST was present in Pakistan since 2019 when the United States approved its current implementation with a $ 125 million support package for the PAF F-16 fleet.
In 2022, the United States government had notified Congress a foreign military sale proposed from $ 450 million to Pakistan to maintain the F-16 program of the Pakistan Air Force as well.
Contrary to the claim of the Congress assistant, according to a 2019 report from Foreign policy The magazine, the use of an F-16 in a dog fight with India, did not violate the final use agreement that Pakistan signed while receiving the United States plane.
The outstanding American magazine had also contradicted India’s statement to tear down an F-16 combat plane from Pakistan during a dog fight in the middle of a greater tension after the pulwama attack in 2019.
FP He had interviewed two US defense officials with “knowledge of the count” and both confirmed that all F-16 were “present and counted.”
“It would be incredibly naive for us to believe that we could sell some type of equipment to Pakistan who do not intend to use in a fight,” added one of them.
The officials also said that Pakistan had invited the United States to count after India said that his Air Force had knocked down an F-16 combat plane during a dog fight on February 27, 2019.
An end user agreement, signed when the foreign military sale was completed, allows the United States to make such counts.
The United States also understood Pakistan’s need to use F-16 combat aircraft to defend themselves during Indian intrusion in February 2019, according to a document published by US news and world report.
However, the document, obtained by the magazine, also showed that Washington was not happy with Islamabad’s decision to deploy these aircraft and missiles supplied by the United States to forward positions during skirmish.
The United States exempts AID Freeze security funds but little for social programs
President Donald Trump ordered a 90 -day break about foreign aid shortly after assuming the position on January 20, stopping the funds for everything, from programs that fight against hunger and mortal diseases to provide shelters for millions of displaced people worldwide.
Freezing caused a struggle for American officials and humanitarian organizations for exemptions to maintain the programs underway. Secretary of State Frame The Middle East and by humanitarian who save life helps, including food.
Exemptions meant that these funds should have been spent. However, current and previous US officials and help organizations say few exemptions of humanitarian aid.
Reuters He obtained a list of 243 additional exceptions approved until February 13 for a total of $ 5.3 billion. The list provides the most complete accounting of exempt funds since Trump ordered the freezing of aid and reflects the desire of the White House to reduce the aid for programs that does not consider vital for the national security of the United States.
The list identifies programs that will be financed and the United States government office that manages them.
The vast majority of funds released, more than $ 4.1 billion, were for programs administered by the Office of Political-Military Affairs of the United States Department of State, which supervises weapons sales and military assistance to other countries and groups. Other exemptions were in line with Trump’s immigration repression and efforts to stop the flow of illicit narcotics in the United States, including mortal opioid fentanyl.
More than half of the programs that will be allowed to advance are administered by the International Narcotics Narcotics Office and application of the State Department Law, or INL, and aim to help combat drug trafficking and illicit migration to The United States, according to the list.
These exemptions were worth $ 293 million and included funds for databases to track migrants, identify possible terrorists and share biometric information.
A state department spokesman did not respond to a request for comments.
Reuters He could not determine if some exemptions had been granted, but they were not on the list.
Trump has long criticized foreign aid, which has averaged less than two percent of the total federal expenditure during the last 20 years, according to the non -partisan committee of a responsible federal budget. Trump has described the “foreign aid industry” of the United States as “in many antithetical cases to US values.”
The government’s efficiency department Elon Musk has led an effort to gut the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the main delivery mechanism for US foreign assistance and a critical tool of the “soft power” of the United States to gain influence abroad.
Unlike security related programs, USAID programs received less than $ 100 million in exemptions, according to the list. That is compared to approximately $ 40 billion in USAID programs administered annually before freezing.
USAID exempt programs included $ 78 million for non -food humanitarian assistance in Gaza, which has been devastated by Israel’s invasion. A separated $ 56 million was launched for the International Red Cross Committee related to the high fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the list showed.
The list did not include specific exemptions for some of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, including Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Myanmar and Afghanistan, which means that the funds for those places seemed to remain detained.
Security exemptions included $ 870 million for programs in Taiwan, $ 336 million to modernize the Philippine security forces and more than $ 21.5 million for the body’s armor and armored vehicles for the National Police and the border guards of Ukraine, showed The list.
The largest exemption without security was $ 500 million in funds to Pepfar, the emblematic program of the United States that fights HIV/AIDS, which mainly finances medical care services in Africa and is attributed to save millions of lives. That compares to the annual Pepfar budget in 2024 of $ 6.5 billion. Pepfar is administered by the Global Health Office of the State Department.
A current USAID employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the process to request exemptions such as “very dysfunctional” and said that the remaining staff of the agency has sought clarity about which criteria are being used.
Rubio has said that the Trump administration communicated with USAID missions abroad to identify and designate programs that will be exempt.
J. Brian Atwood, USAID administrator from 1993 to 1999, said that reducing foreign aid to a narrow set of exemptions was Miope. “When people starve or feel desperate, they will eventually become a security problem,” he said. “They will migrate or become an immigration problem or will be more inclined to move on to terrorism.”
The foreign aid that was arrested by Trump had been previously approved by Congress, which controls the federal budget under the constitution of the United States. As a candidate and as president, Trump has said that he opposes foreign aid for “countries that hate us” and preferred to spend money at home.
The exemptions in the list were awarded before a federal judge last week ordered the Trump administration to restore the financing of foreign aid contracts and awards that were in force before January 20. Reuters He could not establish what exemptions, if there were, they had been granted since February 13.
Many of the non -frozen programs reflect the Trump approach to drug trafficking, including funds that support the operations of interdiction of fentanyl by Mexican security units and efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations.
However, the freezing of Trump’s help has thrown a key in those efforts.
Reuters Last week he informed that the Pause stopped the anti -narcotics programs financed by the INL office in Mexico that for years had been working to stop the flow of synthetic opioid in the United States.
More than $ 64 million were released to support the Haitian police and an unveiled international security force that is helping Haiti’s government to fight gang violence that has displaced more than one million people.
The money covers small weapons supplies, ammunition, drones, night vision glasses, vehicles and other support for force, according to the list. The force is directed by Kenya and includes personnel from Jamaica, Belize, Bahamas, Guatemala and El Salvador.
The International Security and Non -Proliferation Office focused on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, received 17 exemptions worth more than $ 30.4 million, the list showed.
Some of the published funds were for small expenses, including $ 604 for the Musk Starlink satellite Internet system to execute biometry registration programs in Darien Gap, a treacherous 60 -mile route that links South America and central America used by the illegal migrants to the United States.
