www.reuters.com

Musharraf: US threatened to bomb Pakistan after 9/11
Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:29 PM ET


NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan said that after the September 11 attacks the United States threatened to bomb his country if it did not cooperate with America's war campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Musharraf, in an interview with CBS news magazine show "60 Minutes" that will air Sunday, said the threat came from Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage and was given to Musharraf's intelligence director.

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,'" Musharraf said.

"I think it was a very rude remark."

The Pakistani leader, whose remarks were distributed to the media by CBS, said he reacted to the threat in a responsible way.

"One has to think and take actions in the interest of the nation, and that's what I did," Musharraf said about the cooperation extended by Pakistan.

Musharraf said some demands made by the United States were "ludicrous," including one insisting he suppress domestic _expression of support for terrorism against the United States.

"If somebody's expressing views, we cannot curb the _expression of views," Musharraf said.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This service is not intended to encourage spam. The details provided by your colleague have been used for the sole purpose of facilitating this email communication and have not been retained by Reuters. Your personal details have not been added to any database or mailing list.
If you would like to receive news articles delivered to your email address, please subscribe at www.reuters.com


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

© Copyright Reuters 2006All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

now we know how we WIN allies over..

Certainly. But it would have been far more rude to be so polite about it as to not adequately convey the seriousness of the situation, resulting in actual bombing back to the Stone Age.

__________________

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan says the United States threatened to bomb his country back to the Stone Age after the 9/11 attacks if he did not help America's war on terror.

Musharraf says the threat was delivered by Richard Armitage, then the deputy secretary of state, to Musharraf's intelligence director, the Pakistani leader told CBS-TV's "60 Minutes."

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,' " Musharraf said in the interview to be shown Sunday on the CBS television network. (Watch how Armitage shook up the Pakistan intelligence chief -- 1:35)

It was insulting, Musharraf said. "I think it was a very rude remark," he told reporter Steve Kroft.

But, Musharraf said he reacted responsibly. "One has to think and take actions in the interests of the nation and that is what I did," he said.

The White House and State Department declined to comment on the conversation.

Armitage told CNN on Thursday that he never threatened to bomb Pakistan, wouldn't say such a thing and didn't have the authority to do it. Armitage said he did have a tough message for Pakistan, saying the Muslim nation was either "with us or against us," according to CNN. Armitage said he didn't know how his message was recounted so differently to Musharraf.

In a speech in January 2002, four months after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Musharraf gave a speech in which he clearly came down on the side of reform at home and opposition to Islamic fundamentalism.

Pakistan to this day is considered an ally of the United States in the struggle with militant groups. Sometimes, however, Pakistan appears reluctant to go after the Taliban, which controlled neighboring Afghanistan until 2001 and has intensified its insurgency in the southern part of the country in recent months.

Musharraf is scheduled to meet on Friday at the White House with President Bush and then see Bush again next week in a three-way meeting with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.

Musharraf told "60 Minutes" that Armitage's message was delivered with demands that he turn over Pakistan's border posts and bases for the U.S. military to use in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Some demands were "ludicrous," such as a demand he suppress domestic expression of support for terrorism against the United States.

"If somebody is expressing views, we cannot curb the expression of views," Musharraf said.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Sniff Sniff, is that shit I smell? Almost smells like an Reuters report.

__________________
Anyone who thinks freedom comes cheap, please put the blindfold on and stand against the wall.

Many times I believe Americans will have to take back the country and start a new government.

Threads merged..

__________________
"Anyone that needs what they want, and doesn’t want what they need
I want nothing to do with
And to do what I want
And to do what I please
Is first on my to-do list"
-Gnarls Barkley, "Going On" lyrics

Oops, did not see it before..

LOL, it was a Reuters report.

__________________
Anyone who thinks freedom comes cheap, please put the blindfold on and stand against the wall.

Many times I believe Americans will have to take back the country and start a new government.

I do not believe him.
I believe there were strong words, probably after Pakistan was pussy footing around.
I do not believe the State Department would say if not we will bomb your country - I would believe they would say in strong terms "you either help us or we will consider you apart of the problem, if you are a problem we will deal with you accordingly" - to that effect.

Is there any particular reason to believe such a silly claim?

__________________
The Constitution isn't perfect, but it's better than the system we're using now.

Was there a particular reason to believe the silly claim that Saddam had WMD's or.. Saddam was linked to Al-qaeda?

Making threats of "bomb you back to the stone age" is pretty cliche. I like to think that in the information age, our government officials could make more creative, original threats while still preserving the same sentiment.

__________________
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

Armitage denies it.

Well the Prez does say stuff like Bin Laden = dead or alive, although he doesn't really mean it.

AAAAAA, I said it was shit ! I don't believe it.

__________________
Anyone who thinks freedom comes cheap, please put the blindfold on and stand against the wall.

Many times I believe Americans will have to take back the country and start a new government.

What would it take to bomb a country like Pakistan back to the 'stone age'? A firecracker?

__________________
"Anyone that needs what they want, and doesn’t want what they need
I want nothing to do with
And to do what I want
And to do what I please
Is first on my to-do list"
-Gnarls Barkley, "Going On" lyrics

That suffers from the same problem - it's quite a cliche. I think that he should have trotted out the line of Longshanks from Braveheart (who, BTW, is the most hardcore dude ever): "Bring me Bin Laden! Alive, if possible. Dead... just as good."

__________________
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson