Talat Hussain makes a $640 Million Mistake

If anyone needs evidence that Pakistan’s most popular TV anchors just reel off nonsense without checking facts, please watch the interview given by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to a group of Pakistani anchors. 

Talat Hussain of Aaj TV, who often speaks as if he knows everything, wanted to embarrass Hillary by “proving” that the U.S, does not give Pakistan enough.  In his recent shows he has been mouthing off against the “insulting language” in the Kerry-Lugar-Berman aid bill, which triples non-military assistance to Pakistan to $ 1.5 billion per year for five years. 

Talat claimed that the U.S. was paying Kyrgyzstan $ 700 million as rent for a military base in that country.  Hillary corrected the arrogant and self-righteous Aaj TV anchor and said the rent was not that high but was in the range of $ 50 million.  Not one to ever digest facts, especially those that prove him wrong, Talat Hussain continued on to say that must be the rent “per month.”  The US Secretary of State remained polite and left the Kyrgyzstan base rent figure unresolved. 

None of the other “famous and popular” anchors, including Moeed Pirzada, Nasim Zehra, Naveen Naqvi, Mubashir Luqman and others, knew the figure themselves to be able to step in and correct their colleague. 

So, what does a simple google search reveal to be the fact? 

The US agreed in June 2009 to triple the rent of its base in Manas, Kyrgyzstan to $ 60 million, up from $ 17 million, PER YEAR. 

The US also agreed to pay an additional $ 37 million to Kyrgyzstan to build new aircraft parking slots and storage areas, plus another $30 million for new navigation systems.  That adds up to a grand total of $ 127 million in the first year and a recurrent payment per year of still $ 60 million only! 

Where did Talat Hussain of Aaj get his figure of $ 700 million per year?  Nobody knows.  Maybe from his friends Shireen Mazari or Ahmed Quraishi—all purveyors of anti-US opinions with little regard for facts.