Ohio's Boehner On Pakistan: Our Aid Has Been 'Well Spent'

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- House Republican leader John Boehner has declared himself a leading advocate for sending more military aid to Pakistan's Musharraf. Boehner, an Ohio congressman from Butler County, says the $10 billion already sent to support the war on terror has been "well spent." Others see Musharraf as a questionable ally -- vice President Dick Cheney met with the Pakistani strongman last winter and urged him to take more action against terrorist havens inside Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's tribal areas still remain a haven for al-Qaeda, and the Taliban are destabilizing Afghanistan from bases in Pakistan. The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate issued in July (full text available at the link) warned al-Qaeda has reconstituted itself in Pakistan. The report calls Osama bin Laden's movement once again a serious threat to the U.S. homeland. That report came out prior to the NIE saying that Iran had no active program to develop a nuclear weapon.