- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 410
From today's Globe and Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060927.wmusharraf27/BNStory/Front
Quit crying, Musharraf tells Canada
OLIVER MOORE
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf lashed out at critics of his government's anti-terror credentials yesterday, noting that his army has suffered hundreds of casualties while Canadians "cry and shout" when a few of their soldiers die.
General Musharraf was unyielding during an interview with the CBC, reacting strongly when it was suggested that Pakistan could do more to stamp out the Taliban. He shot back that that his country has borne the brunt of the fighting and, trying to make his point, he radically underestimated the number of Canadians killed in Afghanistan.
"We have suffered 500 casualties, Canadians may have suffered four or five," he said in the interview broadcast last night. "You suffer two dead and there's a cry and shout all around the base that there are coffins. Well, we've had 500 coffins."
The interviewer tried to correct the general before conceding that there was no value in comparing body counts.
Gen. Musharraf went on to suggest that the citizens of countries contributing troops to the NATO mission in Afghanistan should not become so agitated when their soldiers die.
"When a soldier puts on a uniform and he joins the army, is this for fighting or for peacekeeping? What has he joined the army for? He's joined to fight, and when you fight, there are casualties. The nation must be prepared to suffer casualties. So if you're not prepared to suffer casualties as an army, then don't participate in any operation," he said.
"We are fighting the Taliban. We will have casualties, because we confront them, we have bullets, they are fighting and you are killing them. They are killing you, this is how the game is, and if you are not prepared to do this, why are we there?"
This blunt assessment came as friends, family, and colleagues gathered at CFB Petawawa yesterday to mourn 32-year-old Corporal Glen Arnold, who was killed in Afghanistan last week by a suicide bomber.
Nine Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in September, making it the bloodiest month for Canadians so far. Since the conflict began, 36 Canadian soldiers and a diplomat have been killed.
Gen. Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have been publicly trading blame over the failure to capture Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders believed to be hiding out in their mountainous border.
"I think [Mr. Karzai] is purposely not speaking the truth," the Pakistani leader told CTV's Canada AM. "He is finding [it] more convenient for himself to hide the truth and cast all aspersions on Pakistan."
Both leaders are scheduled to have dinner tonight at the White House with U.S. President George W. Bush.
During the CBC interview, Gen. Musharraf said that there was no way Canadian troops could operate on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan, arguing that Pakistani troops are more experienced fighters and that domestic politics would not allow it.
"We are the only one who has caught 680 al-Qaeda people," he said. "We are the one who broke the back of al-Qaeda in the mountains of Pakistan. They are on the run now, we've got their sanctuaries where they were in hundreds and now there are in single digit."
Gen. Musharraf also showed a combative side when asked about criticism from British officers that Pakistan should do more to turn off covert assistance to the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
"Who in the British? Who said that?" he responded during the interview in New York. "Some old major or lieutenant-colonel comes up with this statement . . . they don't know anything. I'm afraid they don't understand the environment. They are very new, this is a very complex environment."
Quit crying, Musharraf tells Canada
OLIVER MOORE
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf lashed out at critics of his government's anti-terror credentials yesterday, noting that his army has suffered hundreds of casualties while Canadians "cry and shout" when a few of their soldiers die.
General Musharraf was unyielding during an interview with the CBC, reacting strongly when it was suggested that Pakistan could do more to stamp out the Taliban. He shot back that that his country has borne the brunt of the fighting and, trying to make his point, he radically underestimated the number of Canadians killed in Afghanistan.
"We have suffered 500 casualties, Canadians may have suffered four or five," he said in the interview broadcast last night. "You suffer two dead and there's a cry and shout all around the base that there are coffins. Well, we've had 500 coffins."
The interviewer tried to correct the general before conceding that there was no value in comparing body counts.
Gen. Musharraf went on to suggest that the citizens of countries contributing troops to the NATO mission in Afghanistan should not become so agitated when their soldiers die.
"When a soldier puts on a uniform and he joins the army, is this for fighting or for peacekeeping? What has he joined the army for? He's joined to fight, and when you fight, there are casualties. The nation must be prepared to suffer casualties. So if you're not prepared to suffer casualties as an army, then don't participate in any operation," he said.
"We are fighting the Taliban. We will have casualties, because we confront them, we have bullets, they are fighting and you are killing them. They are killing you, this is how the game is, and if you are not prepared to do this, why are we there?"
This blunt assessment came as friends, family, and colleagues gathered at CFB Petawawa yesterday to mourn 32-year-old Corporal Glen Arnold, who was killed in Afghanistan last week by a suicide bomber.
Nine Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in September, making it the bloodiest month for Canadians so far. Since the conflict began, 36 Canadian soldiers and a diplomat have been killed.
Gen. Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have been publicly trading blame over the failure to capture Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders believed to be hiding out in their mountainous border.
"I think [Mr. Karzai] is purposely not speaking the truth," the Pakistani leader told CTV's Canada AM. "He is finding [it] more convenient for himself to hide the truth and cast all aspersions on Pakistan."
Both leaders are scheduled to have dinner tonight at the White House with U.S. President George W. Bush.
During the CBC interview, Gen. Musharraf said that there was no way Canadian troops could operate on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan, arguing that Pakistani troops are more experienced fighters and that domestic politics would not allow it.
"We are the only one who has caught 680 al-Qaeda people," he said. "We are the one who broke the back of al-Qaeda in the mountains of Pakistan. They are on the run now, we've got their sanctuaries where they were in hundreds and now there are in single digit."
Gen. Musharraf also showed a combative side when asked about criticism from British officers that Pakistan should do more to turn off covert assistance to the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
"Who in the British? Who said that?" he responded during the interview in New York. "Some old major or lieutenant-colonel comes up with this statement . . . they don't know anything. I'm afraid they don't understand the environment. They are very new, this is a very complex environment."
