Friday, September 22, 2006

Bush Threatened To Bomb Pakistan To Stone Age
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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has revealed to the CBS show 60 Minutes--due to be aired this coming Sunday--That the United States threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" if it did not cooperate in the war on terror that is being waged against Al-Qaeda, after the 9/11 attacks.

This threat was delivered by former Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage to Pakistan's intelligence chief, which was then conveyed to President Musharraf.

Jonathan Beale, of the BBC in Washington, stated that the White House & the State Department declined to comment on the 60 Minutes interview.

President Musharraf stated that after the 9/11 attacks, the United States issued "ludicrous" demands of Pakistan:

"The intelligence director told me that Mr Armitage said, 'Be prepared to be bombed . Be prepared to go back to the stone age,'" President Musharaf stated.

Richard Armitage had also demanded that Pakistan place a gag on domestic expression of views & sentiments praising Al-Qaeda & the 9/11 attacks:

"If somebody's expressing views, we cannot curb expression of views," President Musharraf said.

President Musharraf also stated that Mr Armitage demanded that Pakistan grant the United States operational use of its bases that bordered Afghanistan. President Musharraf did comply with this demand:

"One has to think and take actions in the interest of the nation, and that's what I did."

Source for quotes:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5369198.stm

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