Pakistan harbours terrorists who try to kill US soldiers: Nikki Haley

Pakistan harbours terrorists who “go out and try to kill American soldiers”, said Nikki Haley, former US Ambassador to the UN in her latest book With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace that hit the stores on Tuesday (November 12).

Haley wrote that US President Donald Trump was outraged when she presented to him her finding that despite being one of the largest recipient of American aid, Pakistan not only voted against the United States at the United Nations, but also harboured terrorists.

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“We give Pakistan more aid than all but a handful of countries. In 2017, the US gave their military almost $1 billion in aid. Pakistan opposes us at the UN a full 76% of the time. What’s worse, Pakistan harbours terrorists who go out and try to kill our American soldiers,” Haley wrote in her latest book.

“I brought these findings and others to President Trump. He was outraged. Soon after, he asked Congress to pass legislation ensuring that US foreign aid only goes to promote US interests and US friends, the former top American diplomat said. Humanitarian assistance will always be a priority for the US,” she said, adding that the US will always be generous when it comes to saving lives and alleviating suffering.

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“That’s who we are as people. But we should not be the country of mindless handouts. Our focus should be on helping countries that want our help trying to stand on their own two feet, moving from humanitarian assistance to self-reliance. The worst of all possible outcomes is to create permanent reliance on our generosity while bringing countries no closer to supporting our interests,” Haley said.

She said her two years as US ambassador to the UN took her to places where values of human rights and freedom of expression, religion and press does not exist, even as an ideal. There is no freedom of speech to appeal to for Venezuelans or Cubans. There was no freedom of religion in Pakistan to protect Asia Bibi when she faced death for the crime of being a Christian, she said.

“There is no equal justice under the law for the Uighurs in China, the Rohingya in Burma, or the Yezidis in Syria. We don’t need a different America. All of us need to show less entitlement and more gratitude for the universal principles that have made our nation great and will make it greater in the future,” Haley said.

(With inputs from agencies)