DTN News - WASHINGTON DEFENSE NEWS ANALYSIS: Is It Worth It? Pakistan, U.S. Weigh Aid Calculus....NSI News Source Info # 1966(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - May 19, 2011: Muhammad Farooq waits by his truck outside the Pakistani border town of Chaman, the main crossing into southern Afghanistan. He has driven several hundred kilometers from the port city of Karachi carrying supplies for NATO forces, along with a couple of dozen other tankers and trucks.
A paramilitary soldier is seen silhouetted against the sun as he keeps guard at the site where security forces killed five would-be suicide bombers on the outskirts of Quetta May 17, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Naseer Ahmed
"We will start moving soon in a convoy," says Farooq. "We are regularly attacked in this area. We are attacked with sticks, stones and even fired upon."
Indeed, many of the trucks have dents and broken windows, from stones that have found their mark. "This is my third trip here," Farooq says, "and I have decided that this is the last time I'm coming here. It's not worth it."
Farooq's calculation of whether his journey is worth it is a reflection of the larger assessments going on in Islamabad and Washington, which have sharpened since Osama bin Laden was found hiding in plain sight in a garrison town near Islamabad.
Americans wonder if the billions of dollars in military aid they give Pakistan is being misspent or diverted to beef up Pakistan's military capabilities against India, or possibly even to bolster its nuclear weapons capabilities.
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