Khawaja Muhammad Asif
Amu: Speaking during a session of Pakistan’s National Assembly on Monday, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Pakistan’s participation in wars linked to Afghanistan, beginning during the Cold War and continuing after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, was a strategic choice made to secure international support, particularly from the United States. “We did not enter these wars to defend Islam or for jihad,” Asif told lawmakers. “We entered them for political legitimacy and to secure the support of a superpower.” The defense minister said Pakistan failed to learn from the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal and again aligned itself with Washington after the 9/11 attacks, remaining involved in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan for nearly two decades. “For not one decade, but two decades, we rented ourselves out,” he said. “The only objective was to gain American support.” Click here to read more (external link).
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