Pakistan reopens NATO supply routes to Afghanistan
Source: LA Times
July 3, 2012 | 10:22am
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistani leaders on Tuesday ended a seven-month blockade on Afghanistan-bound NATO supply routes through their country, a long-awaited move that hinged on Washington's acquiescence to Islamabad's demand for an apology for the deaths of two dozen Pakistani soldiers killed by errant U.S. airstrikes last fall.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she had called her Pakistani counterpart, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, on Tuesday and issued an apology for the soldiers' deaths: "We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military. We are committed to working closely with Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again."
The closure of the supply routes had been costing U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan about $100 million a month, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told Congress in June. Without transit access through Pakistan, NATO was forced to rely exclusively on a much more costly supply route through Central Asia.
For Pakistan, however, the need to resolve the stalemate was equally urgent. President Asif Ali Zardaris government grew concerned about becoming increasingly estranged from the West and potentially losing millions of dollars in U.S. aid.
Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/07/pakistan-reopens-nato-supply-routes-afghanistan.html
Poll_Blind
(23,864 posts)PB
IamK
(956 posts)Tejas
(4,759 posts)............................?
Didn't we just give Pakistan $8 billion (that's 8 BILLION DOLLARS) a year or so ago?
pinto
(106,886 posts)One point, the routes are also the exit route for equipment for our eventual withdrawal from Afghanistan.
(ed for syntax)
I've got a better idea, how about we call it all good and get the hell out of there and use the money for making our nation better, like education, public safety, rebuild the infrastructure, tackle the poverty issue.
Makes sense to me.
Tejas
(4,759 posts)You need to stop with all of that crazy talk!
your right, well, there goes my chance to ever work for Halliburton. Good news is, I don't need them, I've got PERS.