On November 10^th, 2001 President Bush will meet with the “CEO” of Pakistan, Musharaff, in order to “find ways to further strengthen the relationship between the United States and Pakistan.”  We feel that the U.S. and President Bush must take a firm stand against Pakistan rather than acquiescing to its demands for financial compensation and recognition of “moderate Taliban”. 

Pakistan was the first country in the world to give diplomatic recognition for the Taliban; it is now the only country that recognizes the Taliban militia.  While Pakistan claims it ended its support of the Taliban after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, the Washington Times has reported that aid in the form of ammunition and manpower continues to flow unabated from Pakistan to the Taliban.  On September 21, Musharaff was quoted saying “I have done everything for Afghanistan and Taliban when the entire world is against them. I have met about 20 to 25 world leaders and talked to each of them in favor of the Taliban. I have told them that sanctions should not be imposed on Afghanistan and that we should engage them. I have been repeating this stance before all leaders, but I am sorry to say that none of our friends accepted this."

Prior to September 11^th, Pakistan openly violated the United Nations Resolution 1333, imposed in January 2001 on the Taliban militia by allowing the flow of military hardware and manpower into Afghanistan.  Not only did this enable the Taliban/Al-Qaeda to further dominate and oppress the Afghan people, but it allowed Pakistan’s Intelligence (ISI) the “strategic depth” to assist the terrorists in actions for which they are now infamous.

The United States will waive Pakistan’s IMF loans (a total of almost US $4 billion), in addition to giving hundreds of millions of dollars in aid from our Tax dollars.

This money will not be used to house the millions of Afghan refugees that Pakistan has refused entry or registration for U.N. Aid.   Nor will it be used to reinforce the Pakistani- Afghan border which is crossed daily by thousands of Pakistani and Arab mercenaries.

If a self-appointed dictator like Musharaff can seize control of the Pakistani government and appoint himself at the head, he should have the power to enforce security on his borders. Pakistani border guards can turn away destitute refugees, but they open the gates to their fellow citizens to aid Taliban/Al-Qaeda network in their war against the Afghan people.

We, Afghan-Americans and friends, are uniting to show our commitment to a free Afghanistan for all its citizens from ISI/Al-Qaeda interference. We demand that, in exchange for the rewards using American Taxpayers’ money, Mr. Musharaff, as leader of Afghanistan’s neighbor Pakistan, have a similar commitment to the promotion of stability and democracy in the region, instead of feeding unstable elements within Afghanistan and Central Asia.  Musharaff, as the leader of a country with nuclear capabilities and war on two of its four borders, must prove that he can be trusted to manage large amounts of foreign aid in a responsible manner.

When: 11/10/01

Time: 2-3:30 PM

Where: United Nations Building

This will be a peaceful gathering of Afghan –Americans and friends. We do not encourage, nor do we support rowdy elements or demonstrations of violence for the duration of this rally.

                                                 www.afghansolidarity.com