US threatened to bomb Pakistan 'back to stone age' after 9/11: Musharraf

[Neo]

Musharraf: US threatened to bomb Pakistan after 9/11

NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan said that after the September 11 attacks the United States threatened to bomb his country if it did not cooperate with America's war campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Musharraf, in an interview with CBS news magazine show "60 Minutes" that will air Sunday, said the threat came from Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage and was given to Musharraf's intelligence director.

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,"' Musharraf said.

"I think it was a very rude remark."

The Pakistani leader, whose remarks were distributed to the media by CBS, said he reacted to the threat in a responsible way.

"One has to think and take actions in the interest of the nation, and that's what I did," Musharraf said about the cooperation extended by Pakistan.

Musharraf said some demands made by the United States were "ludicrous," including one insisting he suppress domestic expression of support for terrorism against the United States.

"If somebody's expressing views, we cannot curb the expression of views," Musharraf said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060921/ts_nm/pakistan_usa_musharraf_dc_3

 

[waz]

This was the reality of things at the time folks. The US was boiling with rage and anyone in its way was going to be bombed to the Stone Age plain and simple. Had we refused you would have seen the destruction of the Pakistani state as we know it. We would be on our own especially since we had the ties with the Taliban who stupidly did not get rid of the foreign fighters off their soil even after we told them.

Thankfully things have moved on now and this was five years ago soon to be six. We have become stronger and the decision was obviously for the better.

But let me ask you brothers who say Pakistan should not work in its ICBM program or have nuclear powered submarines. In light of the above our sovereignty and survival of our state must take priority and such instruments of war should be at the forefront of our thinking which they are according to reports. You will never be safe until you have the ability to hit anyone and at anytime. I’m not aiming this at the US but in case of the event of an enemy who can hit us from afar but we can do little in return.

 

[waz]

We should have pressurised the Taliban more on the issue of Al Qaeda who were wreaking havoc around the world. Do you really blame the US when so many of their people died and we supported a movement that hosted these barbarians on their soil? To be honest I’m surprised they even gave us a choice to come on board…..

 

[Awesome]

That is shocking... This revelation comes as Musharrafs realignment begins.

 

[Quwa]

A single U.S carrier and a B-1 squadron can demolish Pakistan - no need to plant troops or anything; back then Pakistan didn't really have a worthwhile economy (not that its any different now). Strategically Pakistan wasn't that important back then - no one knew that U.S would get burned in Iraq and Afghanistan back then; but it still would not stop them from bombing the hell out of Pakistan.

 

[TexasJohn]

That is shocking... This revelation comes as Musharrafs realignment begins.

I thought the timing was unique too! why now? 60 minutes? hmmm..

 

[Awesome]

I think he's just about to declare this piece in his book too...

I always thought it was Colin Powell who had threatened. Turnsout Bush cleverly got AmitRAGE to do his raging bidding and that too not to Mush but to the intelligence service guys.

Bush played a game when he had the upper hand, now with Bush under fire from every second nation's leader visiting New York these days, Mush's timing was impeccable.

Will serve as a message to remind Bush that if he'd try to distant himself more secrets shall be unveiled.

Democrats hold the view that there are many secret unholy alliances between Bush and Mush that the two remain best friends despite pressure from home crowd of both nations. There might be some truth in this.

 

[Cheetah786]

The United States threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" unless it cooperated in the US-led war on terror, President Pervez Musharraf said in an interview.
Musharraf, whose support for the US-led invasion of Afghanistan was instrumental in the fall of the hardline Taliban regime after the September 11, 2001 attacks, said the threat came from former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage.



"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the stone age'," Musharraf said in the interview with the 60 minutes investigative news programme to be broadcast Sunday.

Musharraf says the threat was delivered to his intelligence director, according to selected transcripts of the interview released by the CBS television network.

"I think it was a very rude remark," Musharraf says in the interview. "One has to think and take actions in the interests of the nation, and that's what I did."

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, Pakistan abandoned its support for the Taliban, which was sheltering Al-Qaeda leaders, and became a front-line ally in the US-led "war on terror."

Pakistan has arrested several senior Al-Qaeda members including Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of the 2001 attacks.

The South Asian country has also deployed around 80,000 troops at the rugged frontier with Afghanistan to hunt pro-Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants who sneaked into the area after fleeing the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

The alleged threat also demanded that Pakistan turn over border posts and bases for the US military to use in the war against the Taliban, which ended with the hardline regime's collapse in late 2001.

Other "ludicrous" demands required Pakistan to suppress domestic expressions of support for militant attacks on US targets, according to CBS.

"If somebody's expressing views, we cannot curb the expression of views," it quoted Musharraf as saying.

 

[Awesome]

Cheetah, ur thread's been merged with Neo's.

Here's an article that mentions the US's demands to curb freedom of speech:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said the United States threatened to bomb his country "back to the Stone Age" after the Sept. 11 attacks if he did not help America's war on terror.

The threat was delivered by Richard Armitage, then the deputy secretary of state, to Musharraf's intelligence director, Musharraf told CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" program.

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,'" Musharraf said in the interview to be shown Sunday on CBS.

"I think it was a very rude remark," Musharraf said in the interview.

Armitage, former deputy secretary of state, reportedly disputed the language attributed to him but did not deny the message was a strong one.

Musharraf told "60 Minutes" program that Armitage's message was delivered with demands that he turn over Pakistan's border posts and bases for the U.S. military to use in the war against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Some were "ludicrous," the president said, such as a demand to suppress domestic expression of support for terrorism against the United States.

"If somebody is expressing views, we cannot curb the expression of views," Musharraf said.

The White House on Thursday declined to comment on Musharraf's charge that the United States had threatened to bomb his country "back to the Stone Age" in 2001.

A U.S. government official, who asked not to be identified, said Pakistan had made "a strategic choice" to help after the Sept.11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States.

Musharraf, who is in New York for UN General Assembly, is due to meet U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House.

Before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Pakistan was one of the only countries in the world to maintain relations with the Taliban, which was harboring al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Pakistan has been one of important U.S. allies in South Asia since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. Enditem

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/22/content_5122266.htm

 

[TexasJohn]

So let's analyse this sequence of events:

1. PA makes "peace" with Pakistan Taliban - and withdraws, after getting a promise not to stage cross-border attacks on Afghanistan. The Taliban now no longer have the PA support if they do.

2. Canada makes a vague statement about having troops in Pakistan, Pakistan foreign office says this is baloney, Canada retracts statement.

3. Bush yesterday says he would send troops into Pakistan if he had intelligence that Al Queda was in "town" - even if the Govt. of Pakistan had a problem with it.

4. Today we have the CNN report.

Anybody get the feeling key players seem to have "forked tongue" in US and Pakistan?

This is like watching Macbeth!!

 

[Owais]

US declines comment on Musharraf charge


ORLANDO (updated on: September 22, 2006, 03:59 PST): The White House on Thursday declined to comment on President Pervez Musharraf's charge that the United States had threatened to bomb his country 'back to the Stone Age' in 2001.

Musharraf told CBS television's "60 Minutes" program that then-deputy US secretary of state Richard Armitage had told Pakistan's intelligence director that would be the price for not co-operating in the US-led war on terrorism.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the White House would not comment on "a reported conversation" but stressed that Pakistan had made "a strategic choice" to help after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States.

"After 9/11, Pakistan made a strategic choice to join the war on terror and has since been a steadfast partner in that effort," the official told AFP by telephone from Washington.

"Pakistan's commitment to this important endeavour has not wavered, and our partnership has widened as a result. We're unified in our commitment to fight terror," the official told AFP.

Musharraf's support for the US-led invasion of Afghanistan was instrumental in the fall of the Taliban regime, which refused to hand over terrorist al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who ordered the September 11 strikes.

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age'," Musharraf told CBS, according to excerpts of an interview set to be broadcast on Sunday.

"I think it was a very rude remark," Musharraf said in the interview. "One has to think and take actions in the interests of the nation, and that's what I did."

 

[Owais]

US has sharp eye on Pakistan tribal deal: General


WASHINGTON (updated on: September 22, 2006, 03:42 PST): The US General in charge of NATO in Afghanistan on Thursday said a peace deal between Pakistan and tribal elders could yet bring peace to restive border regions, despite being savaged by US critics.

General James Jones, the supreme commander of allied forces in Europe, warned his men were closely watching results of the controversial pact in Waziristan and he would return to Islamabad in 30 days to discuss its impact.

He also reported that NATO's appeal for member states to fully meet troop and equipment pledges was bearing fruit, as it tries to bolster alliance forces facing stronger-than-expected resistance from suspected Taliban militants.

The tribal deal has been slammed by some analysts and US observers of Afghanistan, who fear Pakistan's government gave too much ground and worry militants will find easier refuge in border regions.

"If all of the words (in the agreement) are backed up, then we should see a positive development," Jones told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"If they are able to live up to the terms of these agreements the border should be a much quieter area."

"This is measurable, because we can tell what is going on in the borders," Jones said, adding he would return to Pakistan next month for high-level talks with Pakistani commanders.

But several US senators slammed the deal, ahead of talks on Friday between President George W. Bush and President Pervez Musharraf.

Defeated 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry said it was troubling, and noted many observers had expectations of the deal "considerably lower" than those of Jones.

The committee's top Democrat Joseph Biden warned in a statement that much of Afghanistan was ungoverable thanks to the Taliban resurgence, and claimed the militia was attacking NATO troops from safe havens in Pakistan.

"They can do that because the government of Pakistan turns a blind eye to the Taliban high command based in Quetta, and just this month signed a 'separate peace' with pro-Taliban militias in Waziristan."

The accord signed September 5 calls for the expulsion of foreign al Qaeda fighters from tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and is aimed at ending two years of violence in the semi-autonomous tribal zone of North Waziristan where hundreds have died in clashes between security forces and Islamic rebels.

The government in turn agreed to release those arrested during army operations and freed more than 130 detained tribesmen.

Pakistani officials have denied the deal will result in refuges for Taliban fighters battling NATO forces in escalating clashes in Afghanistan.

Jones also said NATO members had responded to calls for more troops to reinforce the under pressure alliance force in Afghanistan.

"In the last 10 days or so we have been moving in a very positive direction," he said, noting Poland's pledge to boost a military contingent in the country to 1,000 troops by next February.

He also said he expected several other nations to offer troops in coming days, but did not reveal their identity pending announcements by governments.

Jones also warned that without urgent action against booming opium cultivation in Afghanistan, and to boost the judicial system, the US-led rebuilding project could founder.

"Afghanistan does not need to be a narco-state, but unfortunately it is well on its way," he said.

 

[Owais]

US unclear on Pakistan permission to strike



ORLANDO (updated on: September 22, 2006, 03:02 PST): The White House declined to say on Thursday whether it would need to ask permission from Pakistan before striking at Osama bin Laden were he located in Pakistani territory.

"What I can tell you is that -- without getting into any operational details -- that when there is actionable information, that Osama bin Laden will be brought to justice," spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

Her comments came a day before US President George W. Bush was to meet with President Pervez Musharraf at the White House, in the wake of contradictory comments on whether such permission was needed.

Asked whether Bush would consider it necessary, Perino noted the pending visit and added: "As we've said before, Pakistan is an important partner in the war on terror and a friend to the United States.

"We've had excellent co-operation in many areas, including counterterrorism. And the president has repeatedly said how much he appreciates Musharraf's commitment to pursuing al Qaeda and continuing to work with us in co-operation in the search for Osama bin Laden.

"Pakistan and the United States remain close allies, working not only on the war on terror together, but on many other areas," she said.

Bush said in an interview on Wednesday that he would not hesitate to track down and kill the al Qaeda chief behind the September 11, 2001 attacks and his followers, even if it meant hunting them down on Pakistani soil.

"We would take the action necessary to bring them to justice," said Bush in an interview with CNN television.

But in a September 15 press conference, Bush had said that such military action would hinge on permission from Pakistan.

"Pakistan is a sovereign nation. In order for us to send thousands of troops into a sovereign nation, we've got to be invited by the government of Pakistan," he said in the White House Rose Garden.

 

[Owais]

Musharraf reacts to Bush's comments

UNITED NATIONS (September 22 2006): President Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan will not welcome its sovereign territory breached by the United States-even in the pursuit of Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders.

The President was responding to a question at a press conference in New York about President George W Bush's statement on Wednesday that he (Bush) would not hesitate to track down and kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other terror operatives even if it meant hunting them down on Pakistani soil.

"We would take the action necessary to bring them to justice," said Bush in an interview with Cable News Network (CNN). But President Musharraf responded by saying: "We will like to do that on our own. We will do it ourselves".

He told reporters on the sidelines of the current General Assembly session: "We are able to do everything. Whenever we locate anybody-and there have been many such occasions where we have located al Qaeda or Taliban activities-we have struck, and we have struck with full force, very successfully.

"We will carry that out on our side on the border," he said.

In his interview, President Bush praised efforts by President Musharraf to root out members of the al Qaeda terror network ahead of Musharraf's White House visit later this week.

"I view President Musharraf as somebody, who would like to bring al Qaeda to justice. As a matter of fact, we'll be discussing that with him on that subject on Friday at the White House," said Bush.

Bush also dismissed criticism that Musharraf had not done enough to track down bin Laden. "Osama bin Laden is in hiding and we're still spending a lot of time trying to find him," he said. He also rejected the view voiced by some critics, who accused him of hyping the threat of terrorism to boost his sagging poll numbers.

"They don't sit where I sit. They don't see the intelligence I see," Bush said.

"Frankly, if anybody thinks there's not an enemy coming to attack us, they just don't see the world the way it is," the US leader said, adding "this is a dangerous world." Bush welcomes Musharraf to the White House for bilateral talks on September 22, and again on September 27 for three-way talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

PEACE DEAL Meanwhile, in a gathering of world leaders at the Clinton's Global Initiatives 2006 annual meeting on Wednesday, Musharraf said Pakistan's recent peace agreement in the tribal region had started producing results, and stressed the peace deal was not with the Taliban but to check their militancy and the Talibanisation.

Musharraf said the peace deal with influential local tribal elders in North Waziristan was, in fact, aimed at isolating the Taliban.

He cited the arrest of Taliban fighters entering Pakistan from Afghanistan as a physical manifestation of its initial success, and said their capture came about in the wake of co-operation between the tribal elders and the Pakistani forces that had active intelligence sharing with the coalition forces on Afghanistan.

However, he said, Pakistan had adopted a more prudent course that aimed at weaning away the people from the Taliban and also go for reconstruction in the areas.

He rejected as absolutely wrong a report that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar was hiding in Pakistan President Musharraf asked the world to understand the environment correctly and then form a strategy to deal with the menace of terrorism in the long-term perspective.

 

[Indian Panga]

So let's analyse this sequence of events:

1. PA makes "peace" with Pakistan Taliban - and withdraws, after getting a promise not to stage cross-border attacks on Afghanistan. The Taliban now no longer have the PA support if they do.

2. Canada makes a vague statement about having troops in Pakistan, Pakistan foreign office says this is baloney, Canada retracts statement.

3. Bush yesterday says he would send troops into Pakistan if he had intelligence that Al Queda was in "town" - even if the Govt. of Pakistan had a problem with it.

4. Today we have the CNN report.

Anybody get the feeling key players seem to have "forked tongue" in US and Pakistan?

This is like watching Macbeth!!

Bush's move is kinda stupid. Now Pakistan's forces would be busy trying to prevent an intrusion rather than responding to what the intel on bin laden's whereabouts may be like.