Video: ‘Used us like toilet paper, then threw us away,’ Pakistan slams US

Abdullateef Fowewe

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has unleashed a scathing critique of the United States, accusing it of exploiting Pakistan as a disposable proxy in superpower conflicts and discarding the country “worse than toilet paper” once its usefulness ended.

Asif, speaking in Urdu and later translated, laid bare the costs of Pakistan’s post-1999 realignment with Washington following nuclear sanctions.

“These were not our wars; they were superpower wars. Pakistan and its land were used and then discarded like toilet paper,” he stated, referring to involvement in the 1979 Soviet-Afghan war and the post-9/11 conflict.

“Pakistan was treated worse than a piece of toilet paper and was used for a purpose and then thrown away,” he noted.

He highlighted the “devastating” toll of siding against the Taliban in 2001 at America’s behest, “The costs of realigning with the US after 1999, were devastating and caused long-term harm to the country.”

Asif blamed past dictators like General Zia-ul-Haq and General Pervez Musharraf for entangling Pakistan in “external conflicts,” noting how the “jihad narrative was misused to mobilise citizens” and even reshaped the education system – changes that persist today.

The remarks come amid Pakistan’s ongoing economic crisis and Balochistan unrest, framing today’s terrorism as “blowback” from these decisions.

“The damage is irreversible; there is no compensation that can make things right,” Asif added.

Historically, Pakistan shifted from Cold War US ally to sanctioned state after its 1998 nuclear tests, then became a key partner in Afghanistan operations, receiving $33 billion in US aid from 2002-2017 per government data.

Ties soured with drone strikes and the 2011 bin Laden raid in Abbottabad.