Levin blasts Pakistani funding

Gordon Trowbridge…

Washington — Sen. Carl Levin said Wednesday he may oppose an Obama administration plan to send billions of dollars in new military and economic aid to Pakistan, questioning a key part of the White House’s new security plan for the region.

 "If they’re going to continue to be ambivalent" about fighting insurgents, Levin said of Pakistan, "then I have real doubts about whether the funding would be effective."

Levin, D-Detroit, has been skeptical of Pakistan’s efforts to fight al-Qaida and Taliban forces in its largely ungoverned tribal areas along the Afghan border. He retained that skepticism despite pleas Wednesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which Levin chairs from top uniformed and civilian officials.

Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. military’s top officer in the Middle East, and Michele Flournoy, the Pentagon’s under secretary for policy…

Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. military’s top officer in the Middle East, and Michele Flournoy, the Pentagon’s under secretary for policy, pushed during the hearing for additional aid along the lines of legislation proposed by Sens. John Kerry and Richard Lugar, which would boost economic and military aid to $1.5 billion a year. After the hearing, Levin said he remained unconvinced.

 "If they’re going to continue to be ambivalent" about fighting insurgents, Levin said of Pakistan, "then I have real doubts about whether the funding would be effective."

The question of how to treat Pakistan has emerged as a key disagreement between the Obama administration and Levin, one of his party’s most influential voices on defense.

Levin has been largely supportive of the Afghanistan-Pakistan policy the administration announced last week; at Wednesday’s hearing, he declared the White House strategy "on the right track," and he backed the decision to send about 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.

But he has criticized administration officials who have said that success in Afghanistan depends on success across the border, where Pakistan has had little success in fighting insurgents and the Taliban and al Qaeda move relatively freely across the mountainous border into Afghanistan.

"I remain skeptical that Pakistan has either the will or the capability to secure their border," Levin said Wednesday.

Petraeus warned that strengthening insurgents threaten not just Afghanistan and Pakistan, but other nations in the region, including India, and raise the chances of terrorist attacks in the United States.

And he called expanded operations against al-Qaida in Pakistan "imperative" in weakening that effort, and defended Pakistan’s efforts.

"The Pakistani military has sacrificed much during this campaign," Petraeus said.

Petraeus said insurgent success in Afghanistan, where violence has increased, is directly related to dissatisfaction among the Afghan people with their government’s performance and frustration with government corruption