New York – US came on the verge of marching its special forces into Pakistan to smash Taliban and al-Qaeda’s safe havens twice, post 9/11 and then again in mid-2008, but the country’s rulers each time thwarted the attempt, former President George Bush has revealed.
The former military dictator Pervez Musharraf had frustrated him from the move by conjuring up a spectre of revolt in Pakistan and the possibility of militants taking over the reins of power and the country’s nuclear arsenal, Bush said.
And then in 2008 he himself changed his mind and instead ordered deployment of drones, the former president said.
Breaking his silence on the tumultuous days after the dreadful 9/11 terror attacks on the US, Bush said that Musharraf and Pakistani generals had always sought to misled him by saying that it were Indians who were influencing Americans against Pakistan.
Pushing himself back into the public eye after a two-year hibernation, the former President has come out with these startling new disclosures in his new book which he has titled Decision Points, where he says that post 9/11 some in the Pakistan intelligence services maintained relationship with the Taliban and in fact provided them safe havens.
Bush recalls that as the Taliban and al-Qaeda were on the run from Afghan capital Kabul, he wanted to send special forces inside Pakistan to take head on these terrorists safe havens, but Musharraf warned him of revolt in the Pak Army in which the extremists could take control of the country including its nuclear arsenal. “He (Musharraf) told me that sending troops into combat in Pakistan would be viewed as a violation of Pakistani sovereignty. A revolt would likely ensue. His government would probably fall. The extremists could take over the country including its nuclear arsenal,” Bush said adding that in that case he told him that Pak soldiers needed to take the lead and for several years the arrangements worked.
In return, the US lifted sanctions and the Congress provided $3 billion in economic aid to Pakistan. “Over time, it became clear that Musharraf either would not or could not fulfil all his promises. Part of the problem was Pakistan’s obsession with India,” he said.