Pressure on Pakistan rises in Congress
As details continue to emerge surrounding the death of Osama bin Laden at his Abbottabad compound in Pakistan, lawmakers are increasingly calling for answers about what, if anything, Pakistan knew about bin Laden's presence there - and many are urging a reevaluation of America's relationship with the country.
In a recent interview with ABC, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was "deeply troubled" by details suggesting that high-level Pakistani officials may have had knowledge of bin Laden's location, and demanded answers about the veracity of those suspicions.
Special section: The killing of Osama bin Laden"We need these questions about whether or not the top level of the Pakistan government knew or was told by the ISI, their intelligence service, about anything about this suspicious activity for five years in a very, very centralized place," Levin told ABC's Jonathan Karl.
"I think that at high levels, high levels being the intelligence service, I believe they knew it," he added. "I can't prove it. I just think it's counter intuitive not to."
A number of lawmakers and political officials have expressed increasing concern about the nature of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship in recent days, particularly in light of the fact that bin Laden's compound was located just miles away from a major Pakistani military site.
The United States has provided Pakistan with approximately $18 billion in aid since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. In 2009, Congress authorized $7.5 billion in civilian aid to Pakistan over the course of five years.
Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Relations Committee and a longtime advocate of providing assistance to Pakistan, called on the Obama administration to reassess its assistance to the country.
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"I am writing to express my deep and ongoing concerns regarding the impact of U.S. security assistance to Pakistan--concerns that have been exacerbated by the discovery of Osama bin Laden's lair in Abbottabad," Berman wrote on Thursday in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "Certain elements of the Pakistani defense and intelligence establishments continue to provide direct and indirect support to groups that directly threaten the United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan's own stability ... Pakistan's continued resistance to cooperate with the United States in counterterrorism bespeaks an overall regression in the relationship."
"This ongoing support makes sustainable military progress in Afghanistan virtually impossible," he continued.
Some argue that now is the time to change the trajectory of America's long-troubled relationship with Pakistan.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) called the moment "an opportunity" to start anew.
"For a long time we've known they haven't worked with us in a very cooperative way," he said in a Foreign Relations committee hearing on Thursday. "They don't act rationally as it relates to their own strategic interest. And so for some time, you know, I have felt that we should alter and really focus this aid in a very different way."
"I think this is an opportunity," he added. "As has been said, either they're in cahoots or incompetent, but this gives us an opportunity now to sort of rearrange that relationship."
Texas Rep. Ted Poe, a Republican, on Wednesday introduced a bill proposing to dramatically reduce aid to Pakistan - unless the State Department can prove the country did not know anything of bin Laden's whereabouts.
"It seems like Pakistan might be playing both sides," Poe said in his remarks while introducing the bill. "And they have a lot of explaining to do."
But the Obama administration has stood firm on the importance of maintaining a strong ties with Pakistan.
In a press conference on Thursday, Clinton emphasized that the U.S.-Pakistan relationship has long been viewed as both complicated and necessary.
"It is not always an easy relationship, you know that," Clinton told reporters. "But, on the other hand, it is a productive one for both our countries, and we are going to continue to cooperate between our governments, our militaries, our law enforcement agencies -- but most importantly, between the American and Pakistani people."
Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and one of the authors of the 2009 aid bill, said in committee on Thursday that while America's relationship with Pakistan was "fragile and difficult and challenged," it was important not to "rush into a situation that, in fact, hurts our own interests."
"The truth is, even before bin Laden's death, our relationship with Pakistan has been strained recently, even fragile," he said. "We need to be sensitive to both sides of this story. Nothing, obviously, would excuse the harboring of the number one criminal in the world, but we need to explore carefully exactly what the facts are."
Kerry emphasized that, despite the fraught nature of the relationship, Pakistan had been pivotal in helping the U.S. achieve important victories in the region.
"A legitimate analysis concludes that it is undeniable that our relationship with Pakistan has helped us pursue our security goals," he said. "More senior al Qaeda terrorists have been caught or killed in Pakistan than in any other country, in most cases as the result of joint operations with Pakistani authorities."
"In the search for our answers I want to emphasize, no matter what we learn about the events that preceded the killing of Osama bin Laden, we still have vital national security interests in this region," he added. "We have worked hard to build a partnership with Pakistan - fragile and difficult and challenged as it may be at time - we have worked hard to build a partnership that allows us to pursue common threats and interests."
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), speaking in the same committee, emphasized that "distancing ourselves from Pakistan would be unwise and extremely dangerous."
House Speaker John Boehner echoed this sentiment in remarks on Thursday.
"It's not a time to back away from Pakistan: It's time for more engagement with them, not less," he said. "Frankly, I believe our aid should continue to Pakistan."
