- (IANS) - When America finishes its war against
Afghanistan, it will target countries like Pakistan and Iraq, a former
Pakistan intelligence chief said here.
"When the U.S. finishes with its war against Afghanistan, it will
target Pakistan. It will also make Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia a part of
its campaign against Islam," Hamid Gul, a former head of Pakistan's
Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), told Australia's SBS Radio's Urdu program.
Gul, believed to be one of the principal architects in the creation of
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia, has been a vociferous opponent of
U.S. attacks against Afghanistan.
The U.S. is targeting the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden, prime
suspect in the September 11 U.S. terror attacks.
Gul says he refuses to believe the U.S. is attacking Afghanistan only to
capture or kill bin Laden.
He was also asked about bin Laden's reported appeal to Pakistani Muslims
to support the embattled Taliban.
Gul said the appeal was unnecessary: "Pakistanis who read the Koran
are aware that when an Islamic nation gives a jehad call, it becomes every
Muslim's duty to follow Allah's directive. People (in Pakistan) will soon
understand that the (U.S.) target is our existence and faith.
"America has not clarified what their objectives are in this campaign
and I do not have any doubt their target is Islam and the Islamic way of
life," he said.
"Others may be unaware of this, but as I take keen interest in the
way Americans think, I am sure it is a campaign against the Muslim world.
"They (U.S.) are saying they will fight a 50-year war. You do not
need 50 years to conquer a country or to stop a particular activity emanating
from it, but you may need 50 years to finish an ideology or a way of thinking.
"This is what they did with Communism. It took them 50 years to get
rid of Communism. They will target Pakistan as our very origins are based
on Islam. The concept of an Islamic way of life as we know it today, owes
its sheer existence to the birth of Pakistan."
Gul said the U.S. had failed to make much of an impact in its war against
Afghanistan so far.
"Unprecedented American attacks have failed in Afghanistan because
Afghans are united in the belief that they are serving Islam. Allah tests
this nation every time by pitting it against superpowers because He knows
only Afghans can fight against such odds and emerge victorious."
He was unequivocal in his praise for the Taliban. "I have spent 36
years in the (Pakistani) army and there is no country in the world that
can face the wrath of the U.S. the way Afghanistan is doing."
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