- Sputnik International, 1920, 24.01.2023
Asia
Find top stories and features from Asia and the Pacific region. Keep updated on major political stories and analyses from Asia and the Pacific. All you want to know about China, Japan, North and South Korea, India and Pakistan, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

'Convenient Scapegoat': Imran Khan Urges West Against Blaming Pakistan For 'Unwinnable' Afghan War

© Photo : Imran Khan/facebookImran Khan
Imran Khan - Sputnik International, 1920, 27.09.2021
Subscribe
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has addressed several reports which claim that Islamabad is actively supporting the Taliban* and that the terrorists could not have been successful in their offensive without the country's assistance.
In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post on Monday, Khan criticises the Afghan and Western governments for making his country "a convenient scapegoat" for the outcome of the war in Afghanistan.

"Let me put it plainly. Since 2001, I have repeatedly warned that the Afghan war was unwinnable. Given their history, Afghans would never accept a protracted foreign military presence, and no outsider, including Pakistan, could change this reality," he writes.

Khan hits out at successive Pakistani governments and former military chief Pervez Musharraf, saying that they had sought to please the US instead of pointing out the flaws of a military-driven approach in Afghanistan.

"Pakistan’s military dictator Pervez Musharraf agreed to every American demand for military support after 9/11. This cost Pakistan, and the United States, dearly," he stresses.

Citing an incident of the US support for the Afghan Taliban way back in the 1980s, PM Khan points out how then US President Ronald Reagan hosted them at the White House during the days when the CIA and Pakistan's spy agency ISI trained them to fight against the Soviets.
"Once the Soviets were defeated, the United States abandoned Afghanistan and sanctioned my country, leaving behind over 4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and a bloody civil war in Afghanistan. From this security vacuum emerged the Taliban, many born and educated in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan," he argues.
"Fast forward to 9/11, when the United States needed us again — but this time against the very actors we had jointly supported to fight foreign occupation," adds Khan.
Taliban forces block the roads around the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 27, 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920, 27.09.2021
‘Iraq WMDs’ Architect John Bolton Claims Terrorists Could Get Nukes in Wake of US Afghan Pullout
He laments how General Musharraf, who was then ruling over Pakistan, turned a blind eye to US drone attacks and gave the CIA a foot hold in Pakistan.
He also regrets how Pakistani troops were sent into the semi-autonomous tribal areas on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, "which had earlier been used as the staging ground for the anti-Soviet jihad."
"The fiercely independent Pashtun tribes in these areas had deep ethnic ties with the Taliban," he writes.
Between 2005 and 2016, Khan shares, about 16,000 terrorist attacks were conducted against Pakistan by over 50 militant groups, who viewed Washington and Islamabad as collaborators.

"We suffered more than 80,000 casualties and lost over $150 billion in the economy. The conflict drove 3.5 million of our citizens from their homes. The militants escaping from Pakistani counterterrorism efforts entered Afghanistan and were then supported and financed by Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies, launching even more attacks against us," he says.

Pakistan "a Convenient Scapegoat"

Calling former Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari "the most corrupt man to have led my country," Khan has blasted both him and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, accusing them of not worrying about the collateral damage caused by US drone strikes.
"In Afghanistan, the lack of legitimacy for an outsider’s protracted war was compounded by a corrupt and inept Afghan government, seen as a puppet regime without credibility, especially by rural Afghans," he says.
FILE PHOTO: Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during a joint news conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul - Sputnik International

"Tragically, instead of facing this reality, the Afghan and Western governments created a convenient scapegoat by blaming Pakistan, wrongly accusing us of providing safe havens to the Taliban and allowing its free movement across our border. If it had been so, would the United States not have used some of the 450-plus drone strikes to target these supposed sanctuaries?"

Khan highlights that Islamabad offered Kabul a joint border visibility mechanism, suggesting biometric border controls, advocated fencing the border, and other measures. However, each and every idea was rejected.
"Instead, the Afghan government intensified the 'blame Pakistan' narrative, aided by Indian-run fake news networks operating hundreds of propaganda outlets in multiple countries," the article continues.
Khan says that the collapse of the Afghan Army and the Ashraf Ghani government could have been avoided if a more realistic approach was adopted.

"Surely Pakistan is not to blame for the fact that 300,000-plus well-trained and well-equipped Afghan security forces saw no reason to fight the lightly armed Taliban. The underlying problem was an Afghan government structure lacking legitimacy in the eyes of the average Afghan," he adds.

'Engage With New Afghan Government'

Khan opines that the "right thing" right now for the world to do would be to engage with the new Afghanistan government for the sake of peace and stability, and by assuring constant humanitarian aid, the Taliban will have greater incentive to honour the global community's demands.
"Providing such incentives will also give the outside world additional leverage to continue persuading the Taliban to honor its commitments," he adds.

"If we do this right, we could achieve what the Doha peace process aimed at all along: an Afghanistan that is no longer a threat to the world, where Afghans can finally dream of peace after four decades of conflict. The alternative — abandoning Afghanistan — has been tried before," warns the Pakistan Prime Minister.

On 15 August, Taliban insurgents took control of the last government-controlled border crossing, leaving Kabul Airport as the only route out of the country. They subsequently surrounded and captured the Afghan capital after the city surrendered without a fight, and Ghani fled for the UAE.
On 6 September, the Taliban announced that the last resisting province, Panjshir, had come under their control. Shortly after, the group announced the formation of a new interim government of Afghanistan. Mohammad Hasan Akhund, who has been on the UN sanctions list since 2001, became the head of the new cabinet.
*The Taliban is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала