Kirk: Eliminate military aid to Pakistan

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who sits on the Senate subcommittee responsible for international aid, argued that military assistance to Pakistan should be eliminated in light of an attack Monday on a CIA office in Afghanistan that left one American dead.

Although the embassy had not yet provided details of the attack, reports Monday said that the Haqqani Network, a Pakistan-based militant group, might have been responsible. The group attacked the American Embassy in Kabul last week, prompting Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to denounce the ties between the network and the Pakistani intelligence agency.

The attack Monday morning also follows recent attacks on NATO headquarters in Afghanistan and the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was leading a government effort to broker peace with the Taliban.

"I think now we've got to cut off military assistance to Pakistan," Kirk said Monday on MSNBC.

In a statement Friday, the White House demanded that Pakistan break all links with the Taliban-allied network. Kirk said aid should be tied to concrete steps by the Pakistani government, including allowing American strikes within the country.

"I define that as a dramatic reduction in Haqqani attacks on Americans and Afghans, and then we should be cleared hot for Haqqani targets inside Pakistan," Kirk said.

Kirk also suggested turning over responsibility for Afghanistan to India, Pakistan's longtime foe in the region.

"India has a strong interest in an Afghanistan that is not a terror base," Kirk said. "I wish that a peaceful Afghanistan could be created out of Pakistan, but it appears that the Pakistani government has committed itself to terror."

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