Thread by @HammadSGill

In 1979 Zia had just provoked worldwide condemnation by executing his former PM; his image both inside & outside Pak was badly tarnished, & he felt isolated. By supporting a Jehad, albeit unofficially, against a
communist superpower he sought to regain sympathy in the west.
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The US would surely rally to his
assistance. As a devout Muslim he was eager to offer help to his Islamic neighbours. That religious, strategic and political factors all seemed to point in the same direction was indeed a happy coincidence.
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#ISI

For Zia, the final factor that decided him was Akhtar’s argument that it was a sound
military proposition, provided the Soviets were not goaded into a direct confrontation, meaning the water must not get too hot.
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#Afghanistan

Zia stood to gain enormous prestige with the Arab would as a champion of Islam, & with the West as a champion against communist aggression.
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Reference:
"Afghanistan, the bear trap: The defeat of a super power" by former ISI officer Mohammad Yousaf

@tequieremos