Daily Times

Sir: We all have heard the famous saying, “When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.” So is the case with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

When the two superpowers, the US and USSR, fought in Afghanistan during the 1980s, the Afghans suffered terribly and are still suffering to date. The second country to pay the price is Pakistan. Yesterday’s freedom fighters have morphed into today’s terrorists. Prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan was a peaceful and relatively happy country, whereas today, drugs, guns, shootings and suicide attacks are a common occurrence. Because of the security situation, local businessmen are moving their factories abroad, what to talk of foreigners coming to invest in Pakistan.

It is a known fact that late General Hamid Gul criticised the US for walking away once the defeated Soviet army had left Afghanistan. One can well understand his sentiments. However, if I may be excused for saying so, he should have remembered that Pakistan, which survives on handouts from the other countries and the international financial institutions, was not in a position to take on the US.

Second, the US government’s foreign policy has not been very rational, especially under President Bush. Out of 19, the 16 hijackers in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon were Saudi nationals. Logically, the country to be attacked should have been Saudi Arabia. Instead, the US attacked Afghanistan, where Mullah Omar preferred to have his country invaded and destroyed rather than make Osama bin Laden and his team leave Afghanistan.

SYED HUSSEIN EL-EDROOS

Islamabad