Former Pentagon official compares Pak Army chief with Osama, calls Pahalgam attack ‘calculated’

Former Pentagon official Michael Rubin has drawn a controversial comparison between Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Asim Munir, and deceased Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, while criticizing Pakistan for its alleged role in the recent Pahalgam terror attack that claimed the lives of 28 individuals.

Rubin, currently a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, highlighted what he believes are similarities between Munir and Osama bin Laden, noting that while their lifestyles differ — one lived in caves, the other in a palace — their objectives and ideologies align, and thus, according to him, they should meet the same fate.

He urged the United States to formally designate Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism and to label General Asim Munir a terrorist. Rubin further claimed that Munir may have directly provoked the attack, emphasizing Pakistan’s longstanding support for extremist groups. 

He also asserted that the attack was politically timed, drawing a parallel to a terrorist attack when then-President Bill Clinton had come to India, and now – when US Vice President J D Vance is on his India visit.

. Rubin suggested that Pakistan's aim was to divert international attention and destabilize the region, and cautioned the United States against treating the attack as a spontaneous event.