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| `Pak was only told to either be with us fully or not at all` | | |
Washington, Sep 23: Former US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage has denied that he ever threatened to bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age, unless Islamabad co-operated with the Bush administration in its war efforts after the 9/11 WTC attacks.
Never did I threaten to use any military force; I was not authorized to, said Armitage said in an interview to a TV channel.
"I never made a threat in my life that I couldn`t back up, since I wasn`t authorized to say such a thing, hence, I couldn`t back up that threat," he added.
He said he only told then ISI chief, Lieutenant General Mahmood Ahmed that for Americans everything was in black or white, and Pakistan had to make a choice.
"I told him that-that this-for Americans, this was black or white, that Pakistan was either with us fully or not. It wasn`t a matter of being able to negotiate. He started to tell me about the history of Pakistan-Afghan relations and I must say, I`m a little embarrassed I, I cut him off and said `history starts today, General`," Armitage said.
He however, did concede that the tone of his approach took Gen. Ahmed off guard, reports The News.
"I wanted to make sure he understood the depth of our feelings about what had happened. I also saw this as an opportunity to move Pakistan in a new direction. We had a very straightforward conversation. I think he was looking for a friendly conversation, and he got a very straightforward conversation by someone who was saying that the world had changed on 9/11," Armitage added.
He further admitted that he made a set of non-negotiable demands on Pakistan after the attacks to coerce Islamabad`s support for US action in Afghanistan against the Taliban and bin Laden.
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