Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, launched a scathing attack on Pakistan’s military leadership in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack that claimed 26 civilian lives in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rubin compared Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Asim Munir, to Osama Bin Laden, stating that “the only difference between them is the location — one in a cave, the other in a palace.” He called for the United States to officially label Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism and designate General Munir as a terrorist.
Speaking to ANI, Rubin remarked, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You can pretend Pakistan isn’t a terror sponsor, but that doesn’t change reality.”
Drawing a chilling parallel, Rubin likened the Pahalgam massacre to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, saying both incidents targeted peaceful civilians — liberal Jews in Israel and middle-class Hindus in India. He accused Pakistan of using terror as a tactic and insisted that India should respond the same way Israel did — by eliminating the leadership behind such acts.
Rubin further called on India’s allies and global democracies to support action against Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), urging a united international stance against state-sponsored terrorism.