Pakistan’s prime minister served up some bitter truths during an interview with MSNBC, noting that US taxpayer dollars would have been better spent on fixing America’s infrastructure, as opposed to squandering them in Afghanistan.
Asked what advice he had given US President Donald Trump on the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan, Imran Khan told the co-hosts of Morning Joe that the conflict would go on for “another 19 years” if the United States doesn’t push for peace.
“If I was an American I would ask – at least $1.5 trillion has been spent in Afghanistan, what have we achieved in this?” he said, adding that his visit to the United States to attend the UN General Assembly made it clear to him that the money spent to prop up Kabul should have remained at home.
While the US was pouring money into Afghanistan, in this futile war, the Chinese were developing first-world infrastructure… and I’m in New York, and I’m watching [my] car bumping around.
His jab at America’s infrastructure – often criticized for lagging behind other first-world nations – received accolades on Twitter.
Even co-host Joe Scarborough applauded Khan’s discerning observation, remarking that the prime minister sounded like a “voter from the Bronx.”
The war in Afghanistan has dragged on for nearly two decades, after the United States invaded the country in October 2001. The total cost of the war has been estimated between $760 billion to $2 trillion.
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