LONDON - Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain formally launched its report ‘Afghanistan and Pakistan: The Unwinnable War’ at a Press conference in central London on Friday. The report launch coincided with the London Conference on Afghanistan, hosted by the British Prime Minster Gordon Brown and Hamid Karzai on January 28.

The Press conference was chaired by Jamal Harwood, while member of the Executive Committee of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, with Taji Mustafa, Media Representative Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain and Atif Salahuddin from Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain’s Pakistan Committee were also on the panel. Jamal Harwood opened the Press conference and Taji Mustafa then delivered a formal statement regarding the publication of the new report, which was followed by a lively question and answer session.

Taji said that when Western leaders invaded Afghanistan in 2001, they had promised a better and brighter future for the people. Yet today the West’s war has brought nothing but misery and bloodshed in a brutal occupation that has killed thousands of Muslims in Afghanistan, he added.

He was of the view that the West promised ‘freedom, human rights and democracy’ but instead the world has seen Afghans being held and tortured at Bagram and Guantanamo Bay whilst democracy has delivered the regime of Hamid Karzai which is known for nothing but corruption and has empowered brutal tyrannical warlords throughout Afghanistan, he added.

The West has now driven this war into Pakistan which has resulted in more terror and bloodshed in what was a stable country before the arrival of the Americans in 2001 he said. Taji Mustafha said that Pakistan’s sovereignty has become meaningless as the PPP regime collude with America every day in bombing Pakistan’s own people and allowing American mercenaries’ like Blackwater and Dyncorp to roam and kill freely. America’s objective was to weaken Pakistan whilst seeking to strengthen India in the region.

The Nation