Benazir Bhutto Interview
10-19-1995
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
CARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) _ Six years after the last Soviet troops pulled out of Afghanistan, Pakistan is still suffering from the war's aftermath, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says.
"We feel the rest of the world has forgotten us and moved on," Bhutto said in an interview Wednesday in Cartagena, where she is attending the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.
"We are left on our own to cope with the remnants of the Afghan war, which includes arms smuggling, ... drugs and ... zealots who were leaders at the time of the Afghan war."
Some of the countries that were the battlegrounds of the Cold War _ when the United States and the Soviet Union fought wars by proxy or occasionally used their own troops _ are now largely forgotten by the rest of the world: Nicaragua, Angola, Ethiopia.
The last war ended in 1989 when Soviet troops abandoned Afghanistan in 1989 for their own crumbling nation.
The CIA had supported Islamic guerrillas in their fight against the Soviet-installed Afghan government.
Now, some of the Afghan war veterans are attempting to instigate violence in Pakistan, Bhutto said.
Furthermore, the Afghan-Pakistan border region is rife with lawlessness and drug trafficking, a legacy left by some of the guerrillas who sold opium paste to help support their war.
Bhutto said that if Pakistan had not allowed Washington to send small arms and surface-to-air missiles through Pakistan to the insurgents, the Cold War may never have ended.
"If Pakistan had not taken a stand, Soviet occupation of Afghanistan would not have been resisted," she said. "And if Soviet occupation was not resisted, perhaps the Soviet Union wouldn't have disintegrated."
Bhutto also said India, which has fought three wars with Pakistan, was developing long-range missiles with nuclear warheads that could hit targets as far away as Iraq and the Philippines.
"When all these countries come into the orbit of Indian missiles, there is going to be a new (arms) race," she said. "Every country wants to protect itself."
India has successfully tested its Agni _ or "Fire" _ missile, a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 1,550 miles.
India says it needs the missiles for air defense and to counter the threat posed by Chinese-made M-11 missiles deployed by Pakistan.
Western experts say the Indian missiles could be fitted with nuclear warheads. India says it hasn't developed nuclear weapons, but also refuses to sign the non-proliferation treaty because it wants to retain the option.
Bhutto said that although Pakistan has the capability of making an atomic bomb, it won't produce one unless threatened with attack. She refused to say how long manufacturing one would take.
"I think Pakistan's security depends on the ambiguity, so we prefer to keep the ambiguity of that question."
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
CARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) _ Six years after the last Soviet troops pulled out of Afghanistan, Pakistan is still suffering from the war's aftermath, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says.
"We feel the rest of the world has forgotten us and moved on," Bhutto said in an interview Wednesday in Cartagena, where she is attending the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.
"We are left on our own to cope with the remnants of the Afghan war, which includes arms smuggling, ... drugs and ... zealots who were leaders at the time of the Afghan war."
Some of the countries that were the battlegrounds of the Cold War _ when the United States and the Soviet Union fought wars by proxy or occasionally used their own troops _ are now largely forgotten by the rest of the world: Nicaragua, Angola, Ethiopia.
The last war ended in 1989 when Soviet troops abandoned Afghanistan in 1989 for their own crumbling nation.
The CIA had supported Islamic guerrillas in their fight against the Soviet-installed Afghan government.
Now, some of the Afghan war veterans are attempting to instigate violence in Pakistan, Bhutto said.
Furthermore, the Afghan-Pakistan border region is rife with lawlessness and drug trafficking, a legacy left by some of the guerrillas who sold opium paste to help support their war.
Bhutto said that if Pakistan had not allowed Washington to send small arms and surface-to-air missiles through Pakistan to the insurgents, the Cold War may never have ended.
"If Pakistan had not taken a stand, Soviet occupation of Afghanistan would not have been resisted," she said. "And if Soviet occupation was not resisted, perhaps the Soviet Union wouldn't have disintegrated."
Bhutto also said India, which has fought three wars with Pakistan, was developing long-range missiles with nuclear warheads that could hit targets as far away as Iraq and the Philippines.
"When all these countries come into the orbit of Indian missiles, there is going to be a new (arms) race," she said. "Every country wants to protect itself."
India has successfully tested its Agni _ or "Fire" _ missile, a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 1,550 miles.
India says it needs the missiles for air defense and to counter the threat posed by Chinese-made M-11 missiles deployed by Pakistan.
Western experts say the Indian missiles could be fitted with nuclear warheads. India says it hasn't developed nuclear weapons, but also refuses to sign the non-proliferation treaty because it wants to retain the option.
Bhutto said that although Pakistan has the capability of making an atomic bomb, it won't produce one unless threatened with attack. She refused to say how long manufacturing one would take.
"I think Pakistan's security depends on the ambiguity, so we prefer to keep the ambiguity of that question."
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