Pakistan Stood with the West in Their Wars—But Stood Alone in Its Own
By Qamar Bashir
In a series of explosive interviews reverberating across global platforms, President Donald Trump has delivered blunt and consequential assessments—targeting the moral failures of Western military interventions in Iraq, Lybia and Syria.
While the comments triggered controversy, they also revealed long-suppressed realities—particularly for Pakistan, a country that has endured the consequences of wars it neither initiated nor benefited from. From being America’s front-line ally in proxy wars to becoming a scapegoat in the global terrorism narrative, Pakistan’s story now demands a re-examination in light of Trump’s candid revelations.
Trump’s opening salvo dismantled the rationale behind U.S. interventions in Iraq and Libya. These were nations which—despite their authoritarian regimes—had made considerable economic, social, and institutional progress. “There was no terrorism in Iraq or Libya until we bombed them into dust,” Trump declared. Those bombings created stateless regions, collapsing governance and birthing extremist safe havens. Yet, conveniently omitted from this critique was Pakistan—also a victim of the West’s reckless policies.
Like Iraq and Libya, Pakistan became collateral damage—dragged into conflicts it never initiated but was coerced into supporting. In the 1980s, Pakistan was designated the frontline state in the U.S.-led effort to push Soviet forces out of Afghanistan. Under Western direction, it welcomed foreign fighters—Mujahideen—from across the Islamic world, trained and armed by the CIA, and turned its tribal belt into a launchpad for a geopolitical war.
Then came 9/11. Once again, Pakistan was strong-armed into supporting the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan—providing intelligence, military bases, airspace, and logistical support. But instead of receiving gratitude, Pakistan was met with terrorist blowback. Al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants redirected their wrath toward Pakistan, branding a foe. The country paid dearly—losing over 70,000 civilians and military personnel, suffering more than $150 billion in economic damage, and enduring immeasurable social trauma. Yet, far from being acknowledged as a victim, Pakistan was branded a “sponsor of terror.”
The very powers that created, funded, and armed these extremist elements walked away from the destruction they helped unleash, leaving Pakistan to fight alone. The terrorism that still haunts the nation—particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—stems directly from this legacy. Almost daily, security personnel and innocent civilians lose their lives combating these Western-manufactured monsters.
Trump’s implicit recognition of this betrayal is momentous. But acknowledgment alone is not enough. The West has a moral and political obligation to help Pakistan dismantle the terrorist networks it helped create. These factions were never organically rooted in Pakistan—they are the offspring of CIA and NATO experimentation, now deeply embedded due to Western negligence and duplicity.
The most recent demonstration of this hypocrisy occurred in May 2025. The Indian government blamed Pakistan for an attack in Pahalgam without offering any credible evidence. Rather than seeking investigation or international mediation, India launched a barrage of missile strikes into Pakistani territory on May 5—targeting civilian areas, killing innocents, and flagrantly violating international law.
This aggression was not an isolated incident. It was the latest installment in India’s longstanding propaganda campaign falsely portraying Pakistan as a hub of global terrorism. Tragically, this narrative found traction in Western capitals—built on distorted post-9/11 rhetoric rather than fact. To mask their own failures, the West vilified Pakistan, giving India a free pass to act as both executioner and accuser.
But why was India allowed to behave with such impunity? Because it did not act alone.
India’s actions were tacitly enabled by the same Western powers that once turned Pakistan into a breeding ground for Mujahideen fighters. These powers, possessing vast propaganda machines, absolved themselves of blame for financing, training, and deploying terrorists—transferring that blame onto Pakistan. They left Pakistan isolated, forcing it to confront the very threats they helped create, while also branding it as the problem.
The hypocrisy was staggering. Rather than helping Pakistan rehabilitate its image, rebuild its economy, and reconstruct its war-torn infrastructure, the U.S., UK, and broader Western alliance shifted their investments and strategic favor to India. In an effort to contain China, they propped up India diplomatically, militarily, and economically—turning a blind eye to its human rights abuses, its illegal occupation of Kashmir, and its aggressive posturing in the region. India was transformed into a regional bully—handed a license to kill under the false pretense of counter-terrorism.
Had the West fulfilled its moral responsibility and stood by Pakistan when it was wrongly accused of harboring terrorists—just as Pakistan stood with the U.S. during the Cold War and the War on Terror—perhaps the war of May 2025 could have been averted. Had the U.S. sent a clear message that Pakistan’s sovereignty was inviolable, India might have hesitated. Instead, the West’s silence emboldened India to unleash indiscriminate destruction on civilians, women, children, and the elderly.
The blame, therefore, is not India’s alone. It must be shared by those who passively endorsed its aggression—who allowed falsehoods to dictate policy and stood silently as Pakistan was attacked without cause.
The damage to Pakistan goes beyond physical destruction. A generation has grown up under siege—traumatized, militarized, and misunderstood. Extremism and violence were not born in Pakistan; they were seeded through foreign interventions. Pakistan sacrificed its image, its economy, its culture, and its people to fight proxy wars on behalf of others. And in return? Abandonment, blame, and betrayal.
President Trump’s revelations must now be followed by action. The West must assist Pakistan with the same urgency and resources it once devoted to nurturing militancy. This includes intelligence sharing to detect and destroy cross-border training camps, economic aid and debt relief, technological assistance for border surveillance and counter-terrorism, and an end to the false narrative linking Pakistan with terror.
Most crucially, it requires standing with Pakistan during crises—not passively observing or, worse, aligning with its aggressors.
Trump’s truth bombs are more than a historical reckoning—they are a moral wake-up call. The West created this quagmire. It must now take responsibility for helping Pakistan escape it. India’s false narrative can no longer dictate Western policy. Pakistan must be recognized not as a suspect, but as a victim—and above all, a partner in the pursuit of peace.
Pakistan stood with the West when it mattered most. Now it is time for the West to stand with Pakistan—not with hollow rhetoric, but with tangible support and principled solidarity.
Only then can we say that justice—long delayed—is no longer denied.
