Senators Penalize Pakistan for Jailing Doctor Who Aided CIA
U.S. senators scandalized by Pakistan’s jailing of a doctor for helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden voted on Thursday to cut aid to Islamabad by $33 million — one million for each year in the doctor’s sentence.
“It’s arbitrary, but the hope is that Pakistan will realize we are serious,” said Senator Richard Durbin after the unanimous 30-0 vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“It’s outrageous that they (the Pakistanis) would say a man who helped us find Osama bin Laden is a traitor,” said Durbin, the Senate’s number two Democrat.
The amendment was offered by Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, and Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat. Earlier in the week an appropriations subcommittee slashed aid to Islamabad and warned it would withhold more if Pakistan does not reopen supply routes for NATO soldiers in neighboring Afghanistan.