Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Former President General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf on Sunday stoutly defended his decision to join the US invasion of Afghanistan.

In an interview with a private television channel, the retired general said: “The entire world supported the US invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.”

Pakistan alone could not oppose the American move, Musharraf told to channel on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

The devastating terrorist attacks triggered the war in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban government for shielding Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The ex-army chief insisted he had taken the right decision, keeping the post-9/11 circumstances in view. He dispelled the impression that he had kowtowed to America’s threat of bombing Pakistan back to the Stone Age.

Musharraf vehemently denied surrendering to a telephone call from Colin Powell, then US secretary of state. “We simply joined the war on terrorism as it was in our own interest.”

India was also willing to give the US military bases for its Afghan mission, he claimed. “The US would have invaded Afghanistan from India even if Pakistan had refused to do that.”