9/11, a pretext for US to occupy Afghanistan: Pak diplomat

In an interview with IRNA, former Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, 'Rustam Shah Mohmand', said that actually Americans had started the war in Afghanistan not for eliminating terrorism or to target Osama ben Laden rather they wanted to occupy Afghanistan and fulfill their hegemonic purposes in the region.

“They wanted to keep a close eye on China, Keep a close watch on the nuclear program of Pakistan and keep an eye on some other regional countries. These targets are not easy to achieve but they have devastated Afghanistan,” he said.

The expert on Afghan affairs added that the whole area is being destabilized after 9/11 and now Afghanistan has been devastated and the war has also badly affected Pakistan.

“There is polarization in the area. People of Afghanistan now think that future of the country does not belong to them and they are leaving the country. There is poverty in Afghanistan, there is insurgency. People of Afghanistan are divided and the future of the country looked really bad,” he said.

The analyst went on to say that poppy production is on the rise in the country which was cut down in the previous years, Americans are not interested in the stability of Afghanistan otherwise they would have done something for the poppy production.

He added people are no longer safe in Afghanistan. “Though Afghanistan still receives 1.5 billion US dollars as a grant but major part of this amount is being spent on security forces and is not being used for economic stability of the country. Afghanistan is not in a viable state rather there is political polarization in the country,” he said.

“The US invasion on Afghanistan not only has devastated the country, but has created instability in Pakistan especially in the tribal areas of Pakistan which border with Afghanistan,” he noted.

The analyst viewed peace cannot be restored in Afghanistan untill foreign forces are present in the country.

He said, 'The first main demand of Taliban regarding peace process is the withdrawal of foreign troops. Without accepting major demands of Taliban, you cannot mainstream them in the political system of Afghanistan thus peace cannot be restored in the country.'

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