Prime minister fires back at Trump for making Pakistan ‘a scapegoat’

Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday hit back at President Trump over his claims that Pakistan didn’t assist the U.S. in hunting down Osama bin Laden.

Imran Khan wrote in a series of tweets early Monday morning that Trump had mischaracterized Pakistan’s contributions to the war on terror. He wrote that no Pakistani was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, but the country still participated in the war on terror in the region.

{mosads}Khan tweeted that Pakistan suffered tens of thousands of casualties, spent roughly $123 billion and had tribal communities devastated.

“Instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures, the US should do a serious assessment of why, despite 140000 NATO troops plus 250,000 Afghan troops & reportedly $1 trillion spent on war in Afghanistan, the Taliban today are stronger than before,” Khan wrote.

Record needs to be put straight on Mr Trump’s tirade against Pakistan: 1. No Pakistani was involved in 9/11 but Pak decided to participate in US War on Terror. 2. Pakistan suffered 75,000 casualties in this war & over $123 bn was lost to economy. US “aid” was a miniscule $20 bn.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 19, 2018

3. Our tribal areas were devastated & millions of ppl uprooted from their homes. The war drastically impacted lives of ordinary Pakistanis. 4. Pak continues to provide free lines of ground & air communications(GLOCs/ALOCs).Can Mr Trump name another ally that gave such sacrifices?

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 19, 2018

Instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures, the US should do a serious assessment of why, despite 140000 NATO troops plus 250,000 Afghan troops & reportedly $1 trillion spent on war in Afghanistan, the Taliban today are stronger than before.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 19, 2018

The prime minister was responding to Trump’s interview with “Fox News Sunday,” where he criticized U.S. forces for failing to kill Osama bin Laden more quickly. He additionally claimed Pakistan failed to alert the U.S. to bin Laden’s whereabouts, despite receiving financial aid.

“He lived in Pakistan, we’re supporting Pakistan, we’re giving them $1.3 billion a year, which we don’t give them anymore, by the way, I ended it because they don’t do anything for us, they don’t do a damn thing for us,” Trump said.

Hours after Khan’s response, the president doubled down on his criticism of Pakistan, labeling it “just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return.”

Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2018

….We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That’s ENDING!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2018