WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to dramatically increase civilian aid to Pakistan as part of its new strategy on Afghanistan and the surrounding region, hoping the overture will lead to more effective steps by the Pakistani military to shut down insurgent sanctuaries, U.S. officials said.
A threefold increase in civilian aid would come on top of more than $10 billion in mostly military assistance since 2001. In addition to the aid, the administration will seek similar contributions from other nations, the officials said, describing the conclusions of a strategy review on condition of anonymity because it has not been made public.
The administration is expected this week to unveil the new strategy on Afghanistan, where commanders have said that 70,000 U.S. and NATO troops are unable to prevent Taliban fighters and other extremists from expanding their influence.
Top administration aides have briefed European counterparts on the strategy, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will attend an international conference on the war next week in the Netherlands. President Obama, who will soon meet with NATO allies, has sketched a new approach that lowers U.S. objectives and fixes an exit strategy.
The focus on Pakistan in the administration's new strategy reflects both frustration over years of cross-border attacks against U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan and the view that extremism, violence and instability have roots across the region.
It also underscores concerns among U.S. and allied officials about the stability of the government in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. Clinton and other U.S. officials brokered a compromise this month to defuse a political standoff over the country's judiciary, but they remain fearful that the country is deeply unstable.
Under the plan, the administration would boost Pakistani civilian aid to $1.5 billion a year or more, a move first proposed by Vice President Joe Biden when he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In addition, the administration will seek major increases from China, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states in the Persian Gulf, according to an administration official.
A dramatic boost in aid could help stabilize the civilian government and improve governance, the justice system and, importantly, schools, the officials said.
