US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said that the US is also responsible for the current mess in Pakistan as it quietly walked away from the country after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“I think that it is fair to say that our policy toward Pakistan over the last
30 years has been incoherent,” she said, adding that she did not know any other word to use.
“We came in the ’80s and helped to build up Mujahedeen to take on the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The Pakistanis were our partners in that.
After the Soviet Union fell in 1989, Clinton said, “We basically said — thank you very much. We had all kinds of problems in terms of sanctions being imposed on the Pakistanis.”
Their democracy was not secure and often being overtaken by the military, which stepped in when it appeared that democracy could not work, she said.
‘Mood against Taliban’
Hillary said there is a “real national mood change” in Pakistan against Taliban and Islamabad has recognised that the “serious threat” to it is posed by the extremists. Meanwhile, Hillary announced a $100 million humanitarian aid to
Pakistan for 2 million displaced civilians.