Pakistan buys $5.1 billion of US arms

[Gromit]

The United States maintained its role as the leading supplier of weapons to the developing world in 2006, followed by Russia and Britain, according to a Congressional study to be released Monday. Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia were the top buyers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/01/us/01weapons .html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Pakistan is not exactly the richest country

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_****** an

How on earth can they afford to pay the Americans $5.1 billion?

[China Doll]

Maybe there was a buy one get one free offer?

Why did you get edited? Did you swear?

[Loosehead]

It's not a question of affording it, it's a question of priorities, they deem that spending the money on arms is more important that other things at this time.

[essex bloke]

i wouldnt be surprised if no "cash" exchanged hands ,more of a case of pakistan agreeing to help the yanks fight the baddies and tighten their borders properly

[MrBen5]

Hmmm, its alright when you can afford to spend money on arms, yet have more than half the population living in poverty and uneducated...

[jake-the-peg]

Essex bloke you don't know the half of it.

The US has a habit of donating "aid" in terms of credit to but American goods.

Take a look at this:
http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/fairenough/ nyt916.html

Pakistan is now the fifth-largest recipient of American aid to foreign nations. Mr. Bush has proposed $785 million in aid to Pakistan in his new budget, including $300 million in military aid to help Pakistan combat Islamic radicalism in the country.

So it's not so much America giving Pakistan the sort of aid that they could ever use to build hospitals and schools.

They are sending them large amounts of military hardware to use on supporting the US and UK in the area and telling everyone that it's "aid".

Nice

[kwicky]

And the yanks had the audacity to try and stop the sale of UK aircraft to Saudi Arabia citing backhanded deals. How nieve! Is any large contract done any differently?

[China Doll]

That's just scary.

They really are the new roman empire.

[Sylar]

Bush is Satans puppet...tthnk god he aint got long to go

[sinbadp]

I seem to remember the Americans pouring arms into Afghanistan to be used against the russians.
I wonder if by any chance those same arms are now being used against coalition forces today.
If so the yanks may live to regret supplying armaments to the pakistanis !