SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), gives a speech as he declares victory in the general election in Islamabad, Pakistan.
(Photo: PTI Handout/Reuters)
Imran Khan, Fierce Critic of Trump and US-Led Wars, Declares Victory in Pakistani Elections
"As far as America is concerned, we want to work on a policy that is mutually beneficial. Not a one-way relationship. There needs to be balance."
Jul 26, 2018
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
After running on vows to address Pakistan's widespread poverty, confront rampant corruption, and pursue a more "balanced" foreign policy with the nation's neighbors and the United States, the famous cricket-star-turned politician Imran Khan declared victory on Thursday as his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won a projected 120 of the 270 open seats in Pakistan's parliamentary elections.
"I say this in front of you today... we will run Pakistan in a way in which it has never been run before, deliver the kind of governance never delivered before," Khan declared in his victory speech.
\u201cOur policies is to lift our most poor. Our labourers, our farmers who don\u2019t even make enough money to feed their children properly. Majority of our children suffer from stunted growth. - @ImranKhanPTI \n#PrimeMinisterImranKhan\u201d— PTI (@PTI) 1532607177
\u201cAs far as America is concerned, we want to work on a policy that is mutually beneficial. Not a One way relationship. There needs to be balance. @ImranKhanPTI \n#PrimeMinisterImranKhan\u201d— PTI (@PTI) 1532608733
As the Guardian notes, Khan is far from the "preferred prime minister for Pakistan's two traditional chief patrons, China and the U.S."
In an interview ahead of Pakistan's elections, Khan said the "way the United States has treated Pakistan as a doormat is not fair." Khan has long been a fierce critic of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and its deadly drone campaigns throughout the Middle East, once promising to "shoot down U.S. drones" if he is elected prime minister.
As Common Dreams reported, Khan has also been an outspoken critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit" and cut off security aid.
In response, Khan ripped Trump for attempting to "humiliate and insult" his country and pressured Pakistani leadership to never again be used by the United States as a "gun for hire."
"We became a U.S. proxy for a war against the Soviet Union when it entered Afghanistan and we allowed the CIA to create, train, and arm Jihadi groups on our soil and a decade later we tried to eliminate them as terrorists on U.S. orders," Khan wrote in a letter in January. "The time has come to stand firm and give a strong response to the U.S."
Asked in a recent interview if he would meet with Trump if elected, Khan said he would--but added that it would be a "bitter pill" to swallow.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
After running on vows to address Pakistan's widespread poverty, confront rampant corruption, and pursue a more "balanced" foreign policy with the nation's neighbors and the United States, the famous cricket-star-turned politician Imran Khan declared victory on Thursday as his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won a projected 120 of the 270 open seats in Pakistan's parliamentary elections.
"I say this in front of you today... we will run Pakistan in a way in which it has never been run before, deliver the kind of governance never delivered before," Khan declared in his victory speech.
\u201cOur policies is to lift our most poor. Our labourers, our farmers who don\u2019t even make enough money to feed their children properly. Majority of our children suffer from stunted growth. - @ImranKhanPTI \n#PrimeMinisterImranKhan\u201d— PTI (@PTI) 1532607177
\u201cAs far as America is concerned, we want to work on a policy that is mutually beneficial. Not a One way relationship. There needs to be balance. @ImranKhanPTI \n#PrimeMinisterImranKhan\u201d— PTI (@PTI) 1532608733
As the Guardian notes, Khan is far from the "preferred prime minister for Pakistan's two traditional chief patrons, China and the U.S."
In an interview ahead of Pakistan's elections, Khan said the "way the United States has treated Pakistan as a doormat is not fair." Khan has long been a fierce critic of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and its deadly drone campaigns throughout the Middle East, once promising to "shoot down U.S. drones" if he is elected prime minister.
As Common Dreams reported, Khan has also been an outspoken critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit" and cut off security aid.
In response, Khan ripped Trump for attempting to "humiliate and insult" his country and pressured Pakistani leadership to never again be used by the United States as a "gun for hire."
"We became a U.S. proxy for a war against the Soviet Union when it entered Afghanistan and we allowed the CIA to create, train, and arm Jihadi groups on our soil and a decade later we tried to eliminate them as terrorists on U.S. orders," Khan wrote in a letter in January. "The time has come to stand firm and give a strong response to the U.S."
Asked in a recent interview if he would meet with Trump if elected, Khan said he would--but added that it would be a "bitter pill" to swallow.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
After running on vows to address Pakistan's widespread poverty, confront rampant corruption, and pursue a more "balanced" foreign policy with the nation's neighbors and the United States, the famous cricket-star-turned politician Imran Khan declared victory on Thursday as his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won a projected 120 of the 270 open seats in Pakistan's parliamentary elections.
"I say this in front of you today... we will run Pakistan in a way in which it has never been run before, deliver the kind of governance never delivered before," Khan declared in his victory speech.
\u201cOur policies is to lift our most poor. Our labourers, our farmers who don\u2019t even make enough money to feed their children properly. Majority of our children suffer from stunted growth. - @ImranKhanPTI \n#PrimeMinisterImranKhan\u201d— PTI (@PTI) 1532607177
\u201cAs far as America is concerned, we want to work on a policy that is mutually beneficial. Not a One way relationship. There needs to be balance. @ImranKhanPTI \n#PrimeMinisterImranKhan\u201d— PTI (@PTI) 1532608733
As the Guardian notes, Khan is far from the "preferred prime minister for Pakistan's two traditional chief patrons, China and the U.S."
In an interview ahead of Pakistan's elections, Khan said the "way the United States has treated Pakistan as a doormat is not fair." Khan has long been a fierce critic of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and its deadly drone campaigns throughout the Middle East, once promising to "shoot down U.S. drones" if he is elected prime minister.
As Common Dreams reported, Khan has also been an outspoken critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit" and cut off security aid.
In response, Khan ripped Trump for attempting to "humiliate and insult" his country and pressured Pakistani leadership to never again be used by the United States as a "gun for hire."
"We became a U.S. proxy for a war against the Soviet Union when it entered Afghanistan and we allowed the CIA to create, train, and arm Jihadi groups on our soil and a decade later we tried to eliminate them as terrorists on U.S. orders," Khan wrote in a letter in January. "The time has come to stand firm and give a strong response to the U.S."
Asked in a recent interview if he would meet with Trump if elected, Khan said he would--but added that it would be a "bitter pill" to swallow.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.