LAHORE: Glenn Beck, a Conservative journalist and celebrated author, praised the prime minister for “leveraging his position” to help him organise evacuation flights from Mazar-i-Sharif city of Afghanistan.
The humanitarian effort was “aimed at saving innocent victims facing certain death if left behind in a war-ravaged country where misunderstanding and suspicion take priority at present”, Beck said in a series of tweets.
1. Tomorrow on radio I will share the letters exchanged between me and the prime minister of Pakistan. In the hour of desperate need I reached out in the hopes that some sort of leadership could be found to help us do the impossible. @ImranKhanPTI Con’t pic.twitter.com/qyCTtBCJo4
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) September 19, 2021
Imran Khan “took the lead to save innocent lives irrespective of politics, race, religion or culture”.
“No other global leader that we have seen, took such an initiative to leverage his/her position to save the innocent putting humanity before politics and showing how much the great faiths have in common on the bridge of compassion.”
Beck further credited the prime minister for his “tireless leadership” that resulted in the “release” of three planes from the city.
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The Taliban, he said, “have been businesslike in their responses to adhere to their agreement to let civilian allies of the NATO forces leave the country”.
Since the fall of Kabul in August, Pakistan has emerged as the biggest base for the urgent evacuation of foreigners and their local allies from that country. In August alone, Islamabad has helped evacuate more than 7,000 people from the neighbouring country through air and land routes.
After the deadly bomb attacks near Kabul airport, hundreds of foreigners have already arrived in Islamabad and Karachi for their onward travel to other destinations.
Pakistan has also allowed hundreds of foreign military and commercial flights to use its airspace for airlift operations from Kabul.
While Pakistan has been lauded by many NATO member states’ leaders for helping evacuate their nationals from Afghanistan, there have been “deliberate efforts at the highest levels in the Western capitals” to scapegoat Pakistan, as one official put it.
“The US corporate media begins to hammer the Prime Minister once it got out at the highest levels that he was doing what others couldn’t OR WOULDN’T,” Beck declared.
While media outlets “may have their own agenda for criticising” Imran, he should be recognised for the “lives he helped save this weekend”.
The journalist also called on Washington to “collectively recognise Pakistan’s assistance at this juncture”.
“We will not allow anyone to forget this moment that enabled America and its allies to make good on their promises to those that helped them without pause or reflection,” he said.
