Former Pentagon official Michael Rubin has come down heavily on Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack case, that left 26 tourists dead and several injured, demanding that the United States should formally designate Pakistan as a “state sponsor of terror”. He also demanded that Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir be declared a “terrorist”.
Michael Rubin also questioned the timing of the Pahalgam terror attack, suggesting a link to US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to India. Referring to the Chittisinghpura massacre of 2000 during former US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India, the ex-Pentagon official said the Pahalgam terror attack was a Pakistani attempt to “draw attention away from Vice President JD Vance’s trip to India.”
Michael Rubin said, “The only reaction that the United States should take is a formal designation of Pakistan as a state sponsor of terror and a designation of Asim Munir as a terrorist.”
“The only difference between Osama Bin Laden and Asim Munir is that Osama Bin Laden lived in a cave and Asim Munir lives in a palace, but beyond that, the two are the same, and their end should also be the same,” Michael Rubin said.
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‘US shouldn’t let Pakistan get away’
Speaking with news agency ANI from Washington, “As for the timing, just as there was a terrorist attack when Bill Clinton went to India, so too does it seem that Pakistan wants to draw attention away from Vice President JD Vance’s trip to India. The United States shouldn’t let Pakistan get away with it, and we shouldn’t pretend that this is some sort of spontaneous action.”
The former Pentagon official went on to say that “this just goes to show you that you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You can pretend that Pakistan isn’t a terror sponsor, but it remains a terror sponsor, no matter how much we try to normalise it.”
The Pahalgam terror attack
On April 22, as many as 26 tourists, including an Indian Navy officer and a Karnataka businessman, were rounded up and shot dead by tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam of Jammu and Kashmir – one of the deadliest in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
Following the terror attack, security forces have launched search operations to track down the terrorists responsible.
Vance’s visit to India
US Vice President Vance was on an official trip to India along with his family from April 21-April 23. The vice president was in Jaipur when the terror attack happened in Pahalgam.
Vance also dialed PM Narendra Modi and strongly condemned the dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam. He conveyed his deepest condolences on the loss of lives and reiterated that the United States stands with the people of India in this difficult hour.
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