Doubts Engulf an American Aid Plan for Pakistan.

Rick Barton, a former official at the United States Agency for International Development, or A.I.D., who now works on Pakistan issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the estimate was in the ballpark.

Development firms commonly charge 25 percent to 50 percent of a program’s entire cost in profit and overhead, depending on the scope and difficulty of the task, he said. And the task is indeed difficult.

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