Today is huge confrontation in my country. The call of strike has been partially met but it will fail. This is what is required. Pakistan's president will advise the United States to first ``take out'' Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar before turning its attentions to militant Osama bin Laden, according to an interview published on Monday.
Radical Islamic groups have called a general strike for Monday to protest both Powell's visit and the U.S. air strikes being mounted against Afghanistan for sheltering bin Laden, chief suspect in the Sept 11. suicide plane attacks in New York and Washington.
Musharraf said in the interview he believed the U.S. military campaign would be short-lived if the Taliban top leaders were removed. He also doubted the Taliban would be able to muster enough force to defeat U.S. troops when a ground assault in Afghanistan is eventually launched.
``It could be over in one day if you take out Mullah Omar and his leadership. Once you've done that the campaign is over,'' the general was quoted as saying.
Musharraf said Pakistan did not know bin Laden's location but that Islamabad's intelligence services and officials were working with local Pashtun chiefs to try to find him.
Pakistan is doing what no one else can deliver or can imagine, a Muslim nation hitting US mortal enemies and aiding US was inconceivable for many of those who never stopped calling us a failed state, a rogue state, but failed and rogue states don’t take such intelligent decisions. But as we know that we are badly represented for reasons that the world media knows well we have nothing but only time and events to prove that we are a very responsible state more open than many a democracies and more transparent and have far better standard of living than many regional players. I can write and talk about things in my own name and live in that country I could not do that in Saudi, Iraq or any of the other players, we are always criticizing our fundamentalism, our inability to have peace with India and our religious fanaticism
Naturally it for all this that US honored us on 13th with best of their man in quiet of night, delta force was in Pakistan within 48 hours and we went out of the way to get them a single officer for every team of four. It is a honor that US has entrusted this job to us, first they know we are trustworthy, have taken this as our own battle and will take it to logical end too. Pakistan is a very good state therefore I live there, someone from Paris has to find real nature, the things you read are slanted, we have right to abuse Musharaff like I do when he came to power, he never feels bad or get me killed and our mullahs can go and demonstrate in the street like they are doing, in any other Muslim nation their would have been 5000 dead or given Iraq or Syria would have been gassed by now, they can keep demonstrating we will do what needs to be done and get the job done. Government would have imploded those who thought that about Pakistan are naturally not very happy; Pakistan being the key player does not digest well with people who wanted to make this one a clash of Hindu- Jewish- Christian and rogue Islamites in Pakistan-Afghanistan axis. . Where are the old time traditional allies like Saudis and oil rich Sheikhdoms, they are worried to take on these rogue talibanised Arabs, for this reason Pakistan’s president will advise the United States to first ``take out'' Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar before turning its attentions to militant Osama bin Laden , according to an interview published on Monday.
``Get Mullah Omar and Osama won't be able to operate. He'll be on the run,'' General Pervez Musharraf was quoted as telling USA Today and CBS radio in a joint interview ahead of a visit to Islamabad by Secretary of State Colin Powell
``You must take out the center of gravity,'' Musharraf said of Afghanistan's spiritual leader. ``That's what I would do if I were running this campaign.'' |
