Letters to the Editor
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Why I don't like Bhutto any more and it has nothing to do with Bush whatsoever
I read her Op-Ed in the NYT.
So she's going to harness the Pakistani army to get rid of Al Qaeda on the northern border? And she's going to crush the opium trade at the same time?
Not even Bush claims he's going to win the War on Drugs. The American right has softened their Drug War claims to a 10% reduction in drug abuse because they've realized that nobody is going to "crush" the drug trade any time soon.
So Bhutto is far far far to right of Bush when it comes the War on Drugs. She makes Bush look like a diplomat.
Musharraf is a soft-spoken military dictator and Bhutto is an inflammatory pro-democracy demagogue.
Not such a great choice for the Pakistani people, if they ever get to make a choice, that is.
The reason why she's NOT going to crush Al Qaeda on the border despite her inflammatory rhetoric is because, thanks to 34 years of Afghan, American and Soviet policy that has driven Afghan extremists out of Afghanistan and into Pakistan, the northern border of Pakistan is no longer culturally or politically part of Pakistan.
It's neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan, and that's what makes the region so dangerous.
It's not the mere presence of Al Qaeda -- it's the critical mass of Afghan-identified Pushtuns that makes the norhern region of Pakistan so dangerous for any Pakistani leader to deal with.
Musharraf knows this and the Pakistan army knows this and the Pakistani ISI knows this.
Sidney Blumenthal doesn't seem to know it and neither does Bhutto. If either of them does know it then they're pretending not to.
At this moment people see a one-dimensional problem for Pakistan. Democracy or no democracy.
The problem landscape is really two-dimensional and the other set of boundaries are Pakistan or no Pakistan.
And it's not all about Bush. This problem started before Bush entered politics. This problem will not go away just because Bush leaves office.
The best answer would be a democratic Pakistan. But if Bhutto ends up the leader, there could be a democratic Pakistan for a short while, then there could be a war on the northern border with the Afghan-identified Pushtuns.
Those Afghan-identified Pushtuns in the north could decide it's now in their best interests to press their old claim that the Durrand Treaty has expired, and was never even legal in the first place. If they did that, then all hell would truly break loose in Pakistan.
That would be an attractive situation for India to come in and resolve the Kashmir problem by getting rid of Pakistan's southern border as well.
And that could mean a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
I think it's this vision that is powering the fear of democracy on Musharraf's part.
I know it's Sidney's job to hammer on Bush and normally I think it's a good idea.
Right now I think he's just exploiting the situation and has nothing to say that is informative or useful.
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@DianeKovacs
Getting up early and facing the day isn't hard for me. I'm not a salonista.
Regarding the "bought" description, thanks for the complement. I'm not a pro, but appreciate the fact that you consider me one.
The link you posted, via the article's title, doubts the likelihood that elections will take place in Pakistan in February. I don't know if they will take place either.
The point I tried to make in my original post was that sidney and salon (and juan cole) are wrong about this story.
Bush is clearly pressuring Musharraf to hold elections, and Musharraf is responding.
Bush is standing by his policy of promoting democracy in the world, as a means of protecting the US, and also for the betterment of the people living under tyranny.
Is it always working well? No.
Are there still people suffering? Yes.
When will salon provide an objective assessment? Never.
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What's the old saying, "sauce for the goose?"
I heard an interview on NPR with (I believe) Musharraf's legal counsel. He was pointing out how, since September 11, America had been doing exactly these sorts of things, suspending habeas corpus, weakening other branches of the government in order to give the executive branch the room it needed to fight the war on terror, etc. Apparently, in the eyes of nations who are -- in the Bush administration's words -- "on the road to democracy," this is what democracy looks like.
I'm a little confused on our Commander in Chief's insistence that Musharraf shouldn't be both the leader of the country and the head of the military at the same time. None of the reporting I've seen has bothered to explain the difference between Pakistan's setup and ours.
@nulla sulla: Correction. Venezuelan officials have backpedaled, and now they're saying that eight people were injured, one by gunfire, with no fatalities. The masked gunmen weren't wearing military or police uniforms, and the reports all indicate that they didn't attack until after the protest was over. In short, it's not clear what the hell happened, so it's a bit premature to paint it as a government crackdown.
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Gone are the days
"Gone are the days when stern words by a U.S. president could prevent rash action by an errant foreign leader like Musharraf."
Oh PLEASE! Those days left after Nixon resigned from office...they had a resurgence during the Reagan years but have long since been gone ever since, no matter WHICH Administration was in office.
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A glimpse at our future
The administration is paying close attention, taking careful notes. In a year, it will be time for them to be kicked out of office. It will be their Musharraf moment. Will they impose martial law? Suspend elections? Refuse to leave the White House? Would anyone be shocked if they did?
Having ignored two centuries of jurisprudence to claim themselves beyond the law, who would say this is an unthinkable course? We have seen one unthinkable abomination after another from these lawless authoritarians. They've been priming the pump to declare an emergency and martial law for seven years now.
Yes, they are paying close attention and taking careful notes. In preparation.
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Other than the fact of course
That 80,000 people boiled out into the streets to violently protest The Dear Leader. I thought it was paradise there where everyone gets a free house, a computer, lives forever and is young and beautiful. I mean what with being the Benificent Overlord for Life, El Presidente how could anyone be upset? It must be a lie perpetrated by those dastardly neocons and their Mossad masters.
BTW when you see Hugo, ask him when he's going to pay that 500 million dollar electric bill to Brazil. They're getting a little angry what with oil at $100/bbl that El Hugo keeps blowing them off. Nobody likes a Marxist Dictator Deadbeat you know.