Leaked documents prompt debate on US military in Pakistan

Before the House voted Tuesday to approve $33 billion in supplemental war funding for Afghanistan - lawmakers were forced to address the issue of US troops in Pakistan. More than 100 Democrats voted against the war funding bill. However, only 32 voted for a resolution, co-sponsored by Congressmembers Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, to remove military personnel from Pakistan. Despite increased drone attacks and Department of Defense-sponsored training of Pakistani troops, Congress has never formally approved any actions in Pakistan. Congress did approve $7 billion in funding for development, considering Pakistan an ally in the authorized war against the Taliban. However, according to Kucinich, the WikiLeaks documents released this week question Pakistani commitment, and should call into question the U.S. course of action in the Afghan war.

“I didn’t create this resolution in order to link it with the Afghanistan war but the Pakistan intelligence has created the link with the Afghanistan war because they are actually helping the Taliban.”

The main argument lawmakers used against removing armed forces from Pakistan was the potential danger to the overall war effort and challenged whether the mere presence of armed forces violates the War Powers Act. Democrat Howard Berman is chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“The WikiLeaks documents with all the transparency that it provided to us about what the situation is, I’m unaware of any excerpt which indicates reports of U.S. military forces engaged in hostilities in Pakistan.”

According to the Defense Department, there are 230 US troops in Pakistan, who are training security forces.