Abbas on Charlie Rose: Saleem Shahzad 'Hurt' Pakistan's Military, Al Qaeda

Hassan Abbas, Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Fellow and director of our Pakistan 2020 Study Group, appeared on The Charlie Rose Show on June 1 to discuss Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI, and the abduction and murder of prominent Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad.

Joined in conversation with Pir Zubair Shah of The New York Times and Shuja Nawaz of Huffington Post, Abbas spoke about the bravery of Shahzad, whose reports and book, Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11: Inside the Taliban and Al Qaeda, he said, "hurt both the Pakistani military and Al Qaeda." Abbas received the book from Shahzad two days before he was killed.

On the question of Pakistan’s military, Abbas said: "The role played by Pakistan’s military historically in the last 62 years has been quite destructive. The wars they fought, they lost. Whenever they tried to change the Pakistani political dynamics, they failed. Whenever they ruled, it was quite pathetic."

But Abbas also said Pakistan has grown in the process, largely thanks to the media. Watch the complete video here.