I mentioned in my other posts that I like many others don't support all of Pervez Musharraf's decisions.
But when 911 happened, the Americans had a set of demands for Pakistan. Many people blame Pervez Musharraf for being too submissive to the Americans. Though there is some truth in this, no other Pakistani leader would have made another decision.
They may have made the same decision with some alternations, but they would have gone along with America's war. Come to think of it. The events on September 11, 2001 happened and the Americans suddenly had the sympathy of almost the entire world. Even their enemies in the Middle East and across the world offered sympathy.
The whole world condemned the Taliban and Al-Queda and simply bought the American story that they were behind the attacks.
The Americans now had the backing of the world and sent the whole world the message that "either you're with us or you're with the terrorists."
No country to my memory showed defiance to such an intimidating statement. What choice did the Pakistani leadership have back then? To defy America at that point was to risk isolation from the entire world.
India was more than happy to side with America and no doubt would have used this as an opportunity to defame Pakistan and accusing it of protecting those allegedly behind the 911 attacks.
I wouldn't have taken the alleged American threat of bombing our country back to the stone age seriously. Of course that's assuming the Americans even made such a threat. There's no way one country can bomb another country to such devastation without starting a Third World War.
What most Pakistanis don't realize is that the Americans could lay our country to perish without even firing a bullet. With the sanctions imposed upon us prior to the beginning of the Afghan war, there was no progress in sight for Pakistan. Western sanctions combined with our much ignored overpopulation crisis, which we ourselves created, have all put our country into a deadlock.
Musharraf's decision was perhaps the only thing that saved Pakistan from an uncertain future. When Musharraf agreed to help Americans take over Afghanistan, the sanctions were lifted and our country received three billion dollars in economic aid.
Also during this time prices were steady. None of this would have happened had Pakistan not supported America and NATO's war in Afghanistan.
Many Pakistanis have argued that Iran was able to show defiance to the Americans and still survive. Unfortunately these Pakistanis don't see reality. Unlike Pakistan, Iran does not suffer from an overpopulation crisis. This has allowed Iran to conserve it's massive amounts of energy resources (mainly oil and gas) and withstand Western sanctions.
Iran is a much bigger country with more resources and a population less than half of Pakistan's. Pakistan has a population far beyond sustainability and is continuously growing.
It's important to understand that under such conditions Pakistan is in no position to put itself in political isolation. Also equally important to understand is that no other Pakistani leader or political party would have been able to deal with the situation much differently.
These political parties would not only have left Pakistan to die, but also themselves and their parties as there would be nothing left financially. Musharraf's decision also opened an opportunity for Pakistan to clear Afghanistan from a proxy war zone and make it a more reliable neighbor to access energy rich Central Asia, something that was not possible before the 911 attacks.
Though I do feel Musharraf was a bit too submissive to the Americans compared to Ashfaq Kayani, that shall be discussed in another post, another time.
But when 911 happened, the Americans had a set of demands for Pakistan. Many people blame Pervez Musharraf for being too submissive to the Americans. Though there is some truth in this, no other Pakistani leader would have made another decision.
They may have made the same decision with some alternations, but they would have gone along with America's war. Come to think of it. The events on September 11, 2001 happened and the Americans suddenly had the sympathy of almost the entire world. Even their enemies in the Middle East and across the world offered sympathy.
The whole world condemned the Taliban and Al-Queda and simply bought the American story that they were behind the attacks.
The Americans now had the backing of the world and sent the whole world the message that "either you're with us or you're with the terrorists."
No country to my memory showed defiance to such an intimidating statement. What choice did the Pakistani leadership have back then? To defy America at that point was to risk isolation from the entire world.
India was more than happy to side with America and no doubt would have used this as an opportunity to defame Pakistan and accusing it of protecting those allegedly behind the 911 attacks.
I wouldn't have taken the alleged American threat of bombing our country back to the stone age seriously. Of course that's assuming the Americans even made such a threat. There's no way one country can bomb another country to such devastation without starting a Third World War.
What most Pakistanis don't realize is that the Americans could lay our country to perish without even firing a bullet. With the sanctions imposed upon us prior to the beginning of the Afghan war, there was no progress in sight for Pakistan. Western sanctions combined with our much ignored overpopulation crisis, which we ourselves created, have all put our country into a deadlock.
Musharraf's decision was perhaps the only thing that saved Pakistan from an uncertain future. When Musharraf agreed to help Americans take over Afghanistan, the sanctions were lifted and our country received three billion dollars in economic aid.
Also during this time prices were steady. None of this would have happened had Pakistan not supported America and NATO's war in Afghanistan.
Many Pakistanis have argued that Iran was able to show defiance to the Americans and still survive. Unfortunately these Pakistanis don't see reality. Unlike Pakistan, Iran does not suffer from an overpopulation crisis. This has allowed Iran to conserve it's massive amounts of energy resources (mainly oil and gas) and withstand Western sanctions.
Iran is a much bigger country with more resources and a population less than half of Pakistan's. Pakistan has a population far beyond sustainability and is continuously growing.
It's important to understand that under such conditions Pakistan is in no position to put itself in political isolation. Also equally important to understand is that no other Pakistani leader or political party would have been able to deal with the situation much differently.
These political parties would not only have left Pakistan to die, but also themselves and their parties as there would be nothing left financially. Musharraf's decision also opened an opportunity for Pakistan to clear Afghanistan from a proxy war zone and make it a more reliable neighbor to access energy rich Central Asia, something that was not possible before the 911 attacks.
Though I do feel Musharraf was a bit too submissive to the Americans compared to Ashfaq Kayani, that shall be discussed in another post, another time.
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