As the Obama Administration proposes to pump billions of dollars into Pakistan, US Congressmen have insisted that Islamabad must be made accountable in lieu of the massive aid.

Grilling top army and defense officials, members of the powerful House Armed Services Committee wanted to know from the officials, testifying before it, that the Administration has a mechanism to ensure that more than USD 10 billion being given to Pakistan in the next five years does not end up the way it did during the Bush Administration.

As announced last week, the Obama Administration is supporting a legislation that would give USD 7.5 billion of non-military aid to Pakistan in the next five years and another nearly USD three billion as military aid.

Post-9/11, the Bush Administration gave more than USD 10 billion to Pakistan as aid to fight against terrorism. US lawmakers charged that the money was wasted by the Pakistani establishment and no one was held accountable for this waste.

This strategy must have accountability, insisted Congressman, Ike Skelton, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee during a hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"As Congress and the American people are being asked to put up a significant amount of resources over a sustained period, so there must be accountability and there must be a measurable return on this investment," he argued.

Testifying before the committee were General David Petraeus, Commander of US Central Command; Michele Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Admiral Eric Olson, Commander of the US Special Operations Command. The three had appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee a day before.

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