THE government's plan to change the mechanism for the use of US aid given to Pakistan in the context of the War on Terror in order to make it transparent is welcome indeed. It was reassuring to hear Finance Minister Syed Naveed Qamar say that the government would look into the US military aid Pakistan received since 2001 to fight against militancy. Not only that. His assurance that all US aid packages would now be discussed in Parliament gives one a sense of satisfaction. The amount given us so far is massive and therefore the people have the right to know what became of it. Islamabad has received about a billion dollars annually since 9/11, including $6 bn as reimbursement for cooperation in the War on Terror. Speculations to the effect that this amount was misused are rampant. A report published in the New York Times last year revealed that the then regime committed irregularities in its use, sidestepping the focus from the fight against terrorism. Apart from that, opponents of President Musharraf maintain that the amount was used to strengthen his rule. Worse still, there are others who maintain that this money ended up in certain pockets, especially those who were at the beck and call of the US. However, Parliament monitoring the process would not only bring transparency, but also eliminate the threat of the US trying to blackmail our security services.