Ronald Reagan reference: US expert says clarification in order from PM Imran UNGA speech

Washington: As the debate raged on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s reference to former US president Ronald Reagan remarks about Afghan freedom fighters during his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Michael Kugelman, the writer of Foreign Policy’s weekly South Asia Brief Michael Kugelman said “A clarification is in order from Imran Khan’s UNGA speech.”

The senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center in Washington said “Ronald Reagan compared the Afghan mujahideen to the US founding fathers. That’s untrue. In a 1985 speech, he had described Nicaraguan rebels in that way. He referred to Afghan mujahideen only as freedom fighters.”

He said, “some accounts have shared footage of Reagan’s 1985 speech that has been edited to exclude a key line: “I’ve spoken recently of the freedom fighters of Nicaragua.” After that comes the reference to “They are the moral equal of our Founding Fathers..,,,”

Praising the Pakistani leader, the US expert said, “To be sure, PM Khan’s broader point–that the US supported the mujahideen–is 100% true. The US viewed them in the same light as Nicaraguan rebels–two groups fighting Communism. When the mujahideen evolved into the Taliban and the Taliban sheltered al-Qaeda, the US view changed.”