Yup. People also seem to have forgotten that 2,977 people were killed in the 11 September 2001 attacks.
Two days later, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf pledged the US "
unstinted cooperation." At the time, however, Washington remained wary of Pakistan's intentions.
On 20 September 2001, US President George W. Bush delivered his famous address to Congress,
declaring:
"Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." Many in Pakistan interpreted that message as a direct ultimatum to Islamabad.
As part of the broader information campaign that followed, some US commentators argued that the 11 September attacks were comparable in their psychological impact to a limited nuclear strike on the United States, while others speculated about the full range of military responses available to Washington.
On 11 October 2001,
US troops and military aircraft moved into Pakistan.
Call it weak, pathetic, or cowardly if you want, but Pakistan's leadership at the time ensured that the country itself did not become the target of the kind of devastating military campaign that others have experienced since.
Today, we are watching on our television screens what was once considered a formidable regional power—Iran—being pummelled by the United States day after day, as though it were a failed state.