Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has delivered one of the most candid and controversial assessments yet of his country’s past strategic choices, openly acknowledging Islamabad’s alignment with the United States during the Afghan wars as a grave mistake with lasting consequences. Speaking in the National Assembly, Asif accused Washington of exploiting Pakistan for its strategic interests and then discarding it once its objectives were achieved. He said Pakistan was treated “worse than a piece of toilet paper,” used for a purpose and then thrown away.
The unusually blunt remarks mark a rare public admission by a senior Pakistani official that the country’s decades-long entanglement in Afghanistan, particularly in partnership with the United States, inflicted deep political, social and economic damage. Asif conceded that Pakistan has often denied its own history regarding militancy and extremism, describing this as a “mistake committed by dictators in the past.”
Reflecting on Pakistan’s post-1999 realignment with Washington, especially after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Asif said the decision to join the US-led war in Afghanistan came at a devastating cost. Under then military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan reversed its earlier support for the Taliban and became a frontline ally in the “War on Terror.” While the move brought financial aid and international backing, it also triggered internal instability and militant backlash.
Asif argued that while the United States eventually withdrew from Afghanistan, Pakistan was left to deal with prolonged violence, radicalisation and severe economic strain. He described the terrorism plaguing Pakistan today as “blowback” from past strategic decisions. “We deny our history and do not accept our mistakes. Terrorism is a blowback of the mistakes committed by dictators in the past,” he told Parliament.
The defence minister also revisited Pakistan’s earlier involvement in the Afghan conflict during the 1980s under General Zia-ul-Haq, when the country supported the anti-Soviet jihad with backing from the United States and other allies. He challenged the long-standing narrative that Pakistan’s participation was driven by religious obligation. According to Asif, Pakistanis were sent to fight under the banner of jihad, but the decision was not made “for the sake of Islam” but to appease a superpower.
By naming both Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf, Asif placed responsibility squarely on former military rulers, suggesting that authoritarian decisions taken in pursuit of geopolitical advantage have had irreversible consequences. “The losses we suffered can never be compensated,” he said, calling Pakistan’s past mistakes “irreversible.”
Perhaps most strikingly, Asif claimed that Pakistan’s education system was reshaped during these periods to justify involvement in the wars. He suggested that ideological changes introduced to legitimise participation in Afghanistan remain embedded in society, continuing to influence public discourse and attitudes.
Asif’s remarks have reignited debate within Pakistan over civil-military relations, foreign policy autonomy and the long-term costs of strategic alignments driven by global power politics. While criticism of US policy is not new in Pakistan, the open acknowledgment of internal responsibility and the framing of terrorism as a self-inflicted blowback represent a notable shift in tone.
Whether these admissions will lead to meaningful institutional reforms or remain a moment of political rhetoric remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that a senior member of Pakistan’s government has publicly conceded that the country’s past decisions, taken in alignment with global powers during pivotal conflicts, continue to cast a long shadow over its present.
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