A Stimson Center Blog provides important information on developments in the making of the FY 2010 US Budget (excerpted below, with minor editing; my comments appear in [square] brackets), including its implications for Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

On 7 May 2009, US President Obama released his FY 2010 defense budget request, requesting $663.8 billion (0.2% above the FY 2009 defense budget) in new discretionary Budget Authority:

1. $533.7 billion (4% over FY 2009 base appropriation), for the base defense budget; and
2. another $130 billion, for Overseas Contingency Operations [OCO; the new name, for War on Terror, WOT] to support military requirements in Iraq, Afghanistan [and Pakistan].

The following are some highlights:

A. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE (DOD) BUDGET TITLE

Under this title, $ 635.2 billion are requested for:

1. Military Personnel: $ 149.6 billion (4.8% above FY 2009);
2. Operations & Maintenance: $ 275.6 billion (0.7% above FY 2009);
3. Procurement: $ 131.1 billion (1.7% below FY 2009); and
4. Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E): $ 78.9 billion (3.4% below FY 2009).

B. OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS (OCO) RELATED REQUESTS

Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP). FY 2010 request: $1.5 billion; 25% decrease over FY 09. In addition to the FY 2010 request of $1.5 billion, another $500 million is pending in the second FY 2009 supplemental appropriations bill. The Congress has provided the Commanders Emergency Response Fund (CERP) with a total of $6.4 billion since 2002. CERP is intended to provide commanders in of Iraq and Afghanistan with immediate funds to for local reconstruction projects.

[This is where the money to bribe "reconcilable" elements -- within Al Qaeda, Taliban, local warlords and community influentials, as well as political, civil, and military officials -- comes from. In the "Af-Pak" theatre, Gen. Petraeus is to be the final authority on disbursements, and by tacit understanding, there will be little external oversight or audit.]

Coalition Support Funds (CSF). FY 2010 Request: $1.6 billion; 41% increase over FY 09. Coalition Support Funds (CSF) are used to reimburse countries – primarily Pakistan and Jordan – for their assistance to US military operations. Since 2002, Congress has provided $7.6 billion in CSF, and the pending FY 2009 supplemental request $1.1 billion for the program.

[Pakistan has been the biggest recipient of CSF; a key source of financial support to the Musharraf, and now the "Zardari" government.]

Afghanistan Security Forces Fund (ASFF). FY 2010 Request: $7.5 billion; 34% increase. This request is a major increase in funds requested to train and equip the Afghanistan Security Forces which has historically received between $2 and $3 billion annually. In FY 2009, $2 billion was appropriated for the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund in the first supplemental appropriation, and an additional $3.6 billion was requested in the pending second FY 2009 supplemental appropriation.

[Important voices within the US establishment and think tanks are increasingly advocating a similar programme in Pakistan, to spread the goodies, as it were, to paramilitary forces in Pakistan; even though, the problem in Pakistan is not the lack of trained and discipliined force, but the absence of law and impartial courts.]

Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF). FY 2010 Request: $700 million; 75% increase over FY 09. This new account at DOD would parallel the existing Section 1206 program to focus specifically on training and equipping the Pakistani security forces. In April, the Obama administration requested $400 million for this fund to be available through FY 2010. The FY 2010 base request for PCCF of $700 million would be available through FY 2011.

[This is the source of another slush fund, to be placed at Gen. Petraeus' command, to offer inducements mainly to Pakistan Army officers.]

Global Train and Equip (Section 1206 ). FY 2010 Request: $400 million, 14% increase over FY 09. Last year, Congress provided a direct appropriation of $350 million for Section 1206* programs after repeated requests by the Department of Defense to fund the program at a level of $750 million. In past years, DOD has also sought to make Section 1206 a permanent authority, to which Congress has resisted. No legislative language accompanied the FY 2010 request.

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[*Explanatory Note:

Section 1206 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2006 (PL 109-163) established, as an aid to the War on Terror, a new program that gives the Department of Defense (DOD) the authority to spend up to $200 million of its own appropriations to train and equip (in practice, mostly through "contractors") foreign militaries to undertake counterterrorism or stability operations (in practice, in places other than Iraq and Afghanistan). Under this authority, DOD has provided some $100 million in FY2006; $279 million, in FY2007; and $293 million, in FY2008.

The principal motivation for the section 1206 authority was to by-pass US laws (or, reduce red-tape and provide for speedy disbursement of public funds) governing US government spending overseas, by shifting the authoirty for such spending from State Department to the Department of Defence. A complicated procedure, that is still evolving (and is actively under discussion for the FY 2010 budget), governs the sharing of responsibility between DOD and State Department.

Under this authority, DOD has provided Pakistan $ 92.2 million over the 3 fiscal years ending FY 2008, for the following projects (sources: pdf and pdf):

1. Improving Counterterrorism Strike Capabilities project: $23.3 million in FY 2006 and $ 5.3 million in FY 2007, to: "Help develop integrated rotary wing assets capable of expediting the receipt, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence. Facilitates the rapid planning and execution of Pakistani counterterrorist special operations raids in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and border region to fight terrorists and anti-coalition militants";
2. Enhanced Shared MDA and Cooperative Maritime Security Aid: $ 8.1 million in FY 2007;
3. Helicopter CT [Counterterrosrism] Capability: $ 20.9 million in FY 2008;
4. Special Services Group COIN [Counterinsurgency] Kick Start Initiative: $ 17.9 million in FY 2008; and
5. Mi-17 Support to 21st QRS [?]: $ 17.0 million in FY 2008.

See also section 1207, 1208, and 1209 authority.

NDAA 2009 [text, pdf] was signed into law on 14 October 2008, contains the following related provisions:

• Sec. 1204. Extension of temporary authority to use acquisition and cross-servicing agreements to lend military equipment for personnel protection and survivability.
• Sec. 1205. Authority for distribution to certain foreign personnel of education and training materials and information technology to enhance military interoperability with the Armed Forces.
• Sec. 1206. Modification and extension of authorities relating to program to build the capacity of foreign military forces.
• Sec. 1207. Extension of authority and increased funding for security and stabilization assistance.
• Sec. 1208. Extension and expansion of authority for support of special operations to combat terrorism.]

[Note: This was posted on 8 May 2009 but was deleted by mistake.For the record, its old link was: http://afpakwar.com/blog/?p=305]