Plan would use antiterror aid on Pakistani jets

The Bush administration plans to shift nearly $230 million in aid to Pakistan from counterterrorism programs to upgrading that country's aging F-16 attack planes, which Pakistan prizes more for their contribution to its military rivalry with India than for fighting insurgents along its Afghan border. Some members of Congress have greeted the proposal with dismay and anger, and may block the move. Lawmakers and their aides say that F-16s do not help the counterterrorism campaign and defy the administration's urgings that Pakistan increase pressure on Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in its tribal areas. The timing of the action also caught lawmakers off guard, prompting some of them to suspect the deal is meant to curry favor with the new Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, who will meet with President George W. Bush in... [read full story]