After U.S. President Donald Trump ranted that Pakistan doesn't "do a damn thing for us" and accused the country of harboring terrorists in a Fox News interview that aired Sunday, Pakistani Prime Minister and long-time critic of American foreign policy Imran Khan suggested in a series of tweets on Monday that Trump should examine his own country's failed "war on terror" and stop "making Pakistan a scapegoat."
"The U.S. should do a serious assessment of why, despite 140,000 NATO troops plus 250,000 Afghan troops and reportedly $1 trillion spent on war in Afghanistan, the Taliban today are stronger than before," Khan wrote.
As Common Dreams reported last week, the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs estimated that by the end of 2019, the U.S. will have spent a staggering $5.9 trillion on wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and other nations since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
"No Pakistani was involved in 9/11 but Pak decided to participate in the U.S. war on terror," Khan continued. "Pakistan suffered 75,000 casualties in this war and over $123 billion was lost to the economy. U.S. 'aid' was a miniscule $20 billion. Our tribal areas were devastated and millions of people uprooted from their homes. The war drastically impacted lives of ordinary Pakistanis... Can Mr. Trump name another ally that gave such sacrifices?"
Record needs to be put straight on Mr Trump's tirade against Pakistan: 1. No Pakistani was involved in 9/11 but Pak decided to participate in US War on Terror. 2. Pakistan suffered 75,000 casualties in this war & over $123 bn was lost to economy. US "aid" was a miniscule $20 bn.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 19, 2018
3. Our tribal areas were devastated & millions of ppl uprooted from their homes. The war drastically impacted lives of ordinary Pakistanis. 4. Pak continues to provide free lines of ground & air communications(GLOCs/ALOCs).Can Mr Trump name another ally that gave such sacrifices?
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 19, 2018
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Instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures, the US should do a serious assessment of why, despite 140000 NATO troops plus 250,000 Afghan troops & reportedly $1 trillion spent on war in Afghanistan, the Taliban today are stronger than before.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 19, 2018
In September, Trump decided to cut off $300 million in U.S. aid to Pakistan, accusing the country of providing a safe haven for terrorists.
Prior to his election as prime minister in July, Khan condemned Trump's decision to cut off aid as an attempt to "humiliate and insult" Pakistan and argued that his nation must never again be used by the U.S. 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 declared in a January letter. "The time has come to stand firm and give a strong response to the U.S."
