Former CIA officer John Kiriakou has alleged that the United States “essentially just purchased” former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf by funnelling millions of dollars in aid to Islamabad during his rule. In an interview with ANI, Kiriakou said Washington’s ties with Musharraf-era Pakistan were “very, very good,” adding that the US preferred dealing with dictators to avoid the constraints of public opinion and media scrutiny.
Kiriakou, who served 15 years in the CIA, first as an analyst and later in counterterrorism, alleged that Pakistan was riddled with corruption and said former prime minister Benazir Bhutto led an opulent life abroad while many Pakistanis struggled at home. He told ANI that Washington preferred dealing with dictators because it “doesn’t have to worry about public opinion and you don’t have to worry about the media anymore.”
He said of Musharraf, “Our relations with the Pakistani government were very, very good. It was General Pervez Musharraf at the time. And look, let's be honest here. The United States loves working with dictators. Because then you don't have to worry about public opinion and you don't have to worry about the media anymore. And so we essentially just purchased Musharraf.”
Kiriakou added that Pakistan received “millions and millions and millions of dollars in aid, whether it was military aid or economic development aid,” and that US officials met Musharraf regularly. “And essentially he would let us do whatever we wanted to do. Yes. But Musharraf also had his own people that he needed to deal with,” he said.
The former CIA officer accused Musharraf of striking a balance between apparent cooperation with the US on counterterrorism and accommodating elements within Pakistan that were focused on India. “He had to keep the military happy. And the military didn't care about Al-Qaeda. They cared about India. And so in order to keep the military happy and keep some of the extremists happy, he had to allow them to continue this dual life of pretending to cooperate with the Americans on counterterrorism while committing terror against India,” he said.
Recalling tensions between India and Pakistan in the early 2000s, Kiriakou said: “India-Pakistan were on the brink of war in 2002. December 2001 was when the parliament attack also happened. During that time,” and warned that Pakistan’s fraught domestic politics risk spilling into street violence. “I'm worried about continued disagreement in Pakistani politics that has the potential to spill into the streets because the Pakistanis have a tendency to get themselves spun up and people die during demonstrations and there are attacks against political figures and assassinations and the country is not known for its transformative leaders making positive decisions,” he said.
Kiriakou also recounted a conversation with Bhutto during her exile in Dubai, describing her lavish residence and an anecdote about her husband, Asif Ali Zardari. He quoted Bhutto saying, “so help me God, if he came home with another Bentley, I'm going to kill him!” and noted, “She makes $60,000 a year,” when reflecting on perceptions of corruption. On the wider political class he said: “She lives in a $5 million house and he has a collection of Bentleys. Aren't they ashamed of themselves? Like, how can they go back to Pakistan and look the Pakistani people in the face when their people don't even have shoes and enough food to eat? Like, I understand corruption is a problem there, but that level of corruption? Come on!”
He added: “Well, those are the kinds of politicians that the Pakistani people have to deal with. Right. And so, you know, you talked about Benazir Bhutto, you talked about Zardari. Zardari is the current president over here,” the former CIA officer said.
The comments echo material in Pervez Musharraf’s autobiography In the Line of Fire, in which Musharraf described his decision to end support for the Taliban and recounted how he assessed whether Pakistan could confront the United States — concluding it could not sustain such a confrontation on military, economic and political grounds.
*With ANI Inputs
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
