Plan to use anti-terror aid on Pakistani jets

Some members of the US 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 counter-terrorism campaign and defy the administration’s urgings that Pakistan increase pressure on fighters of al-Qaeda and the Taliban in its tribal areas.

The timing of the action caught lawmakers off guard, prompting some of them to suspect the deal was meant to curry favour with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who will meet President Bush next week, and to ease tensions over the 11 members of the Pakistani paramilitary forces killed in an American airstrike along the Afghan border last month.

The financing for the F-16s would represent more than two-thirds of the $300 million that Pakistan will receive this year in American military financing for equipment and training.

State Department officials say the upgrades would greatly enhance the F-16s’ ability to strike insurgents accurately, while reducing the risk to civilians. The officials said the timing was driven by deadlines of the American contractor, Lockheed Martin.

Having the US pay for the upgrades would also free up cash that Pakistan’s Government could use to help offset rising fuel and food costs, which have contributed to an economic crisis there, the State Department officials said.

Under the original plan sent to the Congress, the administration intended to use up to $226.5 million of the aid to refurbish two of Pakistan’s P-3 maritime patrol planes, buy it new airfield navigation aids and overhaul its troubled fleet of Cobra attack helicopters. The State Department notified Congress last week that the administration had changed its mind and would apply the funds to the F-16s.

Lawmakers immediately bridled at the shift, questioning whether the counter-terrorism money could be spent more effectively. “We need to know if this...