Pakistan took billions without doing anything for US: Trump
Trump claims the United States paid Pakistan billions but was never told Osama bin Laden was living there
November 19, 2018
WASHINGTON: Pakistan was one of many countries that took from the United States without giving anything in return, US President Donald Trump said on Monday.
“We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another,” the US president said in a series of tweets.
In an earlier tweet, Trump said the US had “paid Pakistan billions of dollars and they never informed us he [Osama bin Laden] was living there.”
Trump in his tweet said the US should have captured Osama bin Laden long before the 2011 Abbottabad raid. “I pointed him out in my book just before the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot,” Trump said in his tweet.
A day earlier during an interview, Trump alleged that Pakistan did not do “a damn thing” for the United States and accused Islamabad of helping al Qaeda chief hide there.
"You know, living – think of this – living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan in what I guess they considered a nice mansion, I don’t know, I’ve seen nicer," Trump said, referring to bin Laden and his former compound in Abbottabad. The compound was demolished shortly after United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group forces killed bin Laden there in a late-night helicopter raid in 2011.
"But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy, everybody in Pakistan knew he was there," he added. "And we give Pakistan $1.3 billion a year. ... [bin Laden] lived in Pakistan, we’re supporting Pakistan, we’re giving them $1.3 billion a year — which we don’t give them anymore, by the way. I ended it because they don’t do anything for us, they don’t do a damn thing for us."
‘Record needs to be put straight’
Trump’s tirade against Pakistan led to a stern response from Prime Minister Imran Khan. In a series of tweets, Prime Minister Khan said, “Record needs to be put straight on Mr Trump’s tirade against Pakistan,” the prime minister tweeted giving examples.
Prime Minister Khan in his tweet also called on the US president to name another ally that had given such great sacrifices.
The prime minister also called on the US to stop making Pakistan the scapegoat and “do a serious assessment of why, despite 140,000 NATO troops plus 250,000 Afghan troops and reportedly $1 trillion spent on the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban today are stronger than before.”
