Pakistan must pay for supporting terrorism, says US Congressman
July 01, 2017  17:04
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Pakistan knows it is supporting terrorism, as does the United States and Afghanistan, and therefore, must face the consequences, financial or otherwise for doing so, a member of the United States Congress has said.

Congressman Ted Poe of the Second District, Texas, squarely accused Pakistan of "playing the United States" and insisted that it is high time for Washington to act firmly and put a stop to giving any kind of aid to the former.

Listing three immediate steps to be taken, Poe said, "The United States does not, and should not, continue to give Pakistan money, because the money we give them goes to ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), and that money goes to support terrorist activity in Afghanistan that kills Americans. Why are we doing this?"

"But we continue to do it, for some reason that I think is absurd. So, the first thing we need to do is cut off the aid to Pakistan. We don't need to pay them to kill us; they will support killing Americans on their own. Cut off the aid," he said.

"The second thing we do is to label Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism. That is what they are: a state sponsor of terrorism. Congress needs to label them and make that designation so they suffer the consequences for their terrorist mischief throughout the world," he added.

"And, the third thing we do is we need to remove and revoke their major non-NATO ally status. That is a fancy word for: because Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally, they get certain benefits, militarily, that other countries don't get. Revoke that. Quit giving them military aid. Quit giving them money. Designate them as a state sponsor of terrorism, and remove the major non-NATO ally status against Pakistan," Congressman Poe said.

Describing Islamabad as having a long history of supporting extremist elements and terror activity, that most Americans were not aware of, Congressman Poe said, "Those consequences need to come down to get attention.

The longest war in American history continues today, and it is a war supposedly against terrorism."

"But Afghanistan still is a hotbed because of what takes place and supported from Pakistan. The Afghan Government knows it, we know it, and the Pakistan Government knows it. So, there must be consequences. I think
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