Cypher

#Pakistan granted the USA use of its soil, seaports and airspace to bomb #Afghanistan for 20+ years. I was in #Kabul when US cruise missiles landed. I was there when US planes bombed. They killed thousands of their own people in KPK at America’s behest. That’s what caused the rise of the #TTP - which committed its own atrocities. The Pak army and ISI kidnapped, detained, tortured and sold 1000s of innocent people to the Americans for bounty money. Palestinian #AbuZubaydah was among them. #AafiaSiddiqui and her children were among them. I was among them. They burst into my home in the middle of the night with their #CIA masters and took me at gunpoint, while my wife and young children watched, terrified. Years passed but the very people they sold out in Afghanistan came back to power stronger, defeating America and its allies through patience and perseverance. They now rule the country. Instead of making amends for their past treachery and building relations based on mutual respect, intrinsic corruption and envy couldn’t bare to see Afghanistan building its own future, beginning the road to recovery and prosperity for once. Boasting to the world about its military, with its arsenal of weapons and nuclear capabilities, Pakistan has only used its military against its own people over the past 30 years. Meanwhile, #Kashmir remains occupied, its daughters violated and its men imprisoned and butchered by Modi’s BJP #Hindutva forces. #Gaza, the West Bank and Al Quds are occupied and obliterated while Pakistan’s military join their impotent Arab and Turkish allies in giving lip service or organising protests instead of defending Gaza with their powerful militaries. Non of their ballistic missiles, long range bombers or fighters threaten the murderous #Zionist state. None of their sophisticated anti-aircraft systems are utilised or sent to protect the #Palestinians. Instead, in one of the most embarrassing displays of global sycophancy ever seen Pakistani leader Shehbaz Sharif nominated #DonaldTrump for the Nobel Peace Prize, right after the Gaza genocide, knowing the USA arms, trains, finances, excuses and backs Israeli war crimes at every level. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Afghanistan many times since the US withdrawal. My work has focused on trying to get prisoners freed from US prisons like #Guantanamo, where people like Afghan Muhammad Rahim remain without charge or trial after 24 years. He too was handed over to the #CIA by Pakistan for a fee. When his young children asked to see their father for the last time, the #ISI agents beat them and kicked them down the stairs. That was the last time they saw their father. They are now grown men. The scars are indelible. My investigations have taken me to drug rehabilitation centres in Afghanistan to speak to eyewitnesses fighting addiction resulting from war trauma, neglect and depression. The work done in these centres cannot be overstated. People’s lives have been turned around and the drug addiction epidemic, which grew exponentially during the US occupation, has been eradicated through these hospitals. Pakistan’s targeting of these places is a war crime. But Pakistan’s past actions are also war crimes. Long ago, Pakistan had the potential of being a role model of justice, honour, faith and dignity but it has consistently proved to be the opposite. That dream is dead - for now. The cancer of corruption, nationalism and lack or principles has overtaken and they it needs reform, replacement and a new beginning. When that day comes, everything will change forever. I pray its soon.