http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/05/05/pakistan_tries_to_win_back_washing ton_with_lobbying_campaign.html?wpisrc=newsletter_slatest
Pakistan Tries to Soothe a Furious Congress with Lobbyists Islamabad worried anger over Osama hideout with cost it billions in aid. By Josh Voorhees | Posted Thursday, May. 5, 2011, at 2:45 PM EDT <http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/05/05/pakistan_tries_to_win_back_washin gton_with_lobbying_campaign.html?wpisrc=newsletter_slatest#article_comment_b ox> <http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/05/05/pakistan_tries_to_win_back_washin gton_with_lobbying_campaign.html?wpisrc=newsletter_slatest#article_comment_b ox> 92 95587268 What do you do if a growing number of U.S. lawmakers think your country helped hide its top terrorist target within your borders? Well, if you're Pakistan, it looks like you take a page out of the playbook of anyone else looking to win over Washington: You send in your lobbyists. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/05/us-binladen-pakistan-lobbying-idU STRE7445GK20110505?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews> Reuters reports that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari "has ordered a full-court press" on Capitol Hill to counter accusations that his government helped Osama Bin Laden stay hidden from U.S. forces. >From Reuters: Mark Siegel, a partner in the Washington lobbying firm of Locke Lord Strategies - which is paid $75,000 a month by the Pakistani government - told Reuters on Thursday he had spoken twice to Zardari since U.S. special forces killed bin Laden on Sunday, and "countless" times to the Pakistani ambassador in Washington. "They are certainly concerned," Siegel said, adding that suggestions the Pakistani government knew about bin Laden's whereabouts was nothing more than speculation. As absurd as the premise might sound, it's not exactly an unusual move, especially given the billions of dollars in U.S. aid at stake for Pakistan. Large companies and entire industries routinely pull similar maneuvers when they find themselves on the wrong side of lawmakers' talking points. Siegel and his colleagues likely have their work cut out for them. Some in Congress are already pressing for the $3 billion included in President Obama's 2012 budget proposal to be frozen until Zardari explains how his government didn't manage to sniff out Bin Laden during the roughly six years the al-Qaida leader appears to have been hiding in his Pakistani compound. By Reuters's count, Pakistan has received over $20 billion in U.S. aid since September 11, 2001. In comparison, Siegel's lobbying firm charges the nation a meager $900,000 a year for its lobbying efforts. And what does that tidy sum buy? Reuters again: Since bin Laden's death, Siegel says he has been on Capitol Hill every day to promote Pakistan's position on the bin Laden killing, talking to congressmen, senators and their aides. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/05/us-binladen-pakistan-lobbying-idU STRE7445GK20110505?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
