Aaron
Maté of the Real
News spoke with Junaid Ahmad, Director of Center
for Global Dialogue and Professor of Middle Eastern Politics at the
University of Lahore, about the latest Trump turn against Pakistan.
Ahmad
reveals that since the US invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan was
threatened by Washington's hawks not only to take the side of the US,
but even to assist militarily the US operations in Afghanistan.
He
also says that the latest hostile stance of Washington against
Pakistan could be explained by the deeper approach of the country
with China.
Finally,
he points out the qualitative difference between the US and China.
While the US threatens countries and spreads catastrophe through the
power of weapons, China attempts economic cooperation and tries to
bring all sides at the table of dialogue:
The
way to look at what's essentially transpired since the US invasion of
Afghanistan is dictation to Pakistan, as the General President
Musharraf said at the time, that basically the choice that was
offered to Pakistan is either comply and corporate, or be bombed to
the stone age, as he was told by a senior functionary in
Washington.
So,
Pakistan essentially went along, but the expectation that Pakistan
would engage in full scale military assaults, which of course, it was
pressured to at certain times with horrendous consequences internally
within Pakistan.
That
is to say not only a large number of civilians killed, but millions,
up to millions displaced from those areas bordering Afghanistan and
areas in the country where the military had never gone into, what's
known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
The
only sensible solution right now is in fact for regional powers to
come to the table and broker some type of diplomatic and political
resolution. And the Chinese were doing the unthinkable over the past
few months, which is bringing two countries, Afghanistan and
Pakistan, that have had incredible level of friction and tension.
They were bringing them to the table, trying to broker some
resolution, which is the only sensible thing. This is what is
frightening Washington so much, that in fact some type of diplomatic
and political resolution will take place that will completely
sideline Washington from the entire process.
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