Insisting that Pakistan should move away from the United States in the ‘war on terror’, Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan said the aid from the US was a curse and was destroying the country.
“The aid to our puppet government from the US is destroying our country. We’re basically using our army to kill our own people with American money. We have to separate from the US,” Khan told The Guardian in an interview in London Speaking on several issues, Khan said that Pakistan’s two main problems were corruption and tax evasion. “We have the lowest tax-GDP ratio in the world, 9 percent. If we get it to 18 per cent, which is India, we’re solvent,” he said.
Khan bristled with anger on the charge that Pakistan was allegedly complicit in harbouring Osama bin Laden. The whole of Pakistan, according to him, was furious when US President Barack Obama announced in May that bin laden had been killed.
Khan said, “The whole of Pakistan felt this way. Wherever I went I felt this humiliation and anger in people. It was humiliating because an American president announces it, not our president. And because it was the American military, not our military, which this country has given great sacrifices to nurture, that killed him.”
He added, “Most humiliating of all was that the Central Investigating Agency chief Panetta says that the Pakistan government was either incompetent or complicit. They’re talking about a country in which 35,000 people have died during a war that had nothing to do with us. Ours is perhaps the only country in history that keeps getting bombed, through drone attacks, by our ally.”
Arguing that the ‘war on terror’ was going nowhere, Khan said, “The Soviets killed more than a million people in Afghanistan. They were fighting more at the end than the beginning. So clearly a population of 15 million could take a million dead and still keep fighting. The Americans are going to have to kill a lot of people to make any impact and they also have in Zardari an impotent puppet as Pakistani president who has not delivered anything to the Americans.”
He added, “The Americans also don’t realise that the Arab Spring was against puppets and dictators. People want democracy. So this whole idea of planting your own man there, a dictator -neocolonialism is what it’s called-is not going to work any more.”
Khan cited a government economic survey as stating that $70 billion has been lost to the Pakistan economy because of the ‘war on terror’.
“Total aid has been barely $20 billion. Aid has gone to the ruling elite, while the people have lost $70 billion. We have lost 35,000 lives and as many maimed, and then to be called complicit, the shame of it,” he exclaimed.
Confident of his party’s victory in the 2012 elections, Khan, the captain of the 1992 World Cup winning team, said, “I played five World Cups and it was only in the last World Cup before we won (in 1992) that I said: “Put money on us.” Now I’m saying my party will win. I’m throwing everyone a challenge that nothing can stop this party. Nothing.”
According to him political parties in Pakistan were “petrified” of him. “They all want to make alliances with me and I say: No, I’m going to fight all of you together because you’re all the same,” he said.
good interview…
Imran Khan has a clear ideology and a consistent view about war on terror. The whole Pakistan supports him (except the countable bad eggs that are creepy pieces of party politics). Imran will rise!
Imran Khan is nothing but a clueless man who knows nothing about politics, economy or geo-political realities and those supporting him are even bigger day-dreamers.
The most tragic thing is, he was not even a good cricket captain, it was sheer good luck that he won the world cup. A man with such a big ego can never be great leader. I watched a programme on an Indian channel, where all world cup winning ex-captains were invited to participate and express their opinion about the experiences they went through while leading their respective teams to the ultimate victory, ie. the world cup. Every ex-captain did remember their colleagues with fond memories and praised the efforts of their respective team members’ performances, that, ultimately, led them to lift the precious trophy, except our good old and great Imran Khan, who kept on insisting and implying that he was leading a bunch of unruly, imperfect and talent less cricketers, yet, his exceptional leadership qualities made it possible for Pak team to lift the trophy!
I believe that , Mr. Zardari and Mr. Gilani, are hundred thousands times better than the good old Moulana Diesel , right wing double faced PML-N and so called religious parties.
youre the clueless one
Yeah, you told him!
Sir if He has no experience about politics then why the experienced politician do this bad to this country.ppp mqm anp pmln pmlq
There is no use of telling baseless things mangoman
Do you think that zardari and gillani are policticians by birth. ?
WE JUST NEED TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY .NOT FACES .
I can't even express just how irrational, illogical, deluded, not to mention exaggerated and factually wrong, these statements are. The lack of self-blame, introspection, conscientiousness and outright falsehoods (blaming others for your own sins) is staggering.
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