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Their Arms and Their Man: Musharraf Gives and Takes For Bush-Cheney
Obsequiousness begets friends. . . . Publius Terentius Afer , Andria
If you thought all the Pakistanis got for their friendship with George W. Bush was a lawsuit and eventually a bunch of F-16s think again. (The F-16s last flew into the newswires in September 2006. They were first promised to Pakistan in the late 1980s but after a down payment was made, the Defense Department changed its mind. Pakistan sued to get its money back and eventually settled for a bunch of money and white wheat worth $60 million. A short while later the United States said Pakistan could have the planes but the radars would be programmed in such a way that they could only detect aircraft flying from non-NATO enemy countries like China or India but not those flying from NATO-enemy countries like France or Britain. Unhappy with this programming, on September 22, 2006 it was reported in the Pakistani Weekly that the Pakistanis had refused to sign the agreement consummating the deal. January 10, 2007 it was reported that Northrop Grumman Corporation had been given a contract to build 52 F-16 aircraft for the Pakistan Air Force. Pakistan's pique had peaked and the purchase was moving ahead).
The F-16s are simply one part of Mr. Musharraf´s reward for being a faithful disciple of George W. Bush. For information about another we have to thank the Center for Public Integrity.
In a report released March 27, 2007, it was disclosed that Pakistan has been rewarded for its warm friendship with Mr. Bush by being made the most favored beneficiary of a new post-9/11 program that the Defense Department informally refers to as the Coalition Support Funds (CSF). CSF sends money to those countries that have helped in the fight against terrorism. According to the report, in the three years that preceded 9/11, Pakistan received $9.1 million in military aid. In the three years after 9/11 it received $4.2 billion in military aid. Only Israel and Egypt received more aid. Before 9/11 Pakistan received less military aid than Estonia or Panama. Since 9/11 Pakistan has received more than $10 billion in overall aid including military aid.
Much of the aid to Pakistan has been disbursed without any controls or demands for accountability. As explained by Tim Rieser, the majority clerk on the Senate Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on State, Foreign Operation, and Related Programs, ¨With the possible exception of Iraq reconstruction funds, I've never seen a larger blank check for any country than for the Pakistan CSF program¨. He went on to tell the Center that the Republican congress ¨did next to nothing to track what was done with the money. He called CSF "a backwater of lax oversight and poor accountability. ¨ That is great for the Pakistanis. It is not so great for the Congress that from time to time likes to know where money it has appropriated is spent.
The good news is even though Pakistan is free to spend the allowance Mr. Bush's Defense Department gives it any way it wants, accounting to no one, the money has made a difference and Pakistan is on its way to becoming more of a democracy with every passing day. Of course there are occasional lapses.
In late March Mr. Musharraf suspended Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry the chief justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court. No reasons were given for the suspension but a report in the International Herald Tribune quotes some Pakistani lawyers as attributing his suspension to too much judicial independence including overturning the privatization of a steel mill that was sold for less than fair market value and taking up cases of "forced disappearances" of people who have been imprisoned and hidden away without due process of law. (The U.S. State Department issued a report in March that was critical of the alleged disappearance of political dissidents in Pakistan).
Another brief lapse occurred when Amna Buttar, an American citizen and physician who has been engaged in human rights work in Pakistan participated in an April 3 demonstration in support of the suspended chief justice. According to a report in Pakistan's Daily Times, she was physically assaulted and molested by Musharraf sponsored Anti-terrorist Squad members. None of the officials present to whom she immediately reported the assault responded. The assault is probably the result of Dr. Buttar's inability to follow instructions. According to the Daily Times, she said that through family members she had received warnings from top officials in intelligence agencies to stop raising human rights issues. She was told "the intelligence agencies are so active that they could shoot you dead in New York City". Had followed instructions and not demonstrated she would not have been assaulted.
When Dick Cheney visited Pakistan in January he said Mr. Musharraf should do more to control terrorists on his borders. Nothing has been heard from Mr. Cheney or Mr. Bush about Justice Chaudry's suspension or Dr. Buttar's assault. Nothing will be heard. They neither know nor care about human rights.
Christopher Brauchli brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu For political commentary see my web page http://humanraceandothersports.com
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9 Comments so far
Show AllAhhh - another great democracy armed with weapons of destruction. Kind makes you sleep safe in your bed at night.
What happens when the USA loses Pakistan to Islamic government and they start using those weapons against US interests? What if - god forbid - Musharraf ever has an election which will automatically mean the end of his very unpopular military dictatorshp and a Muslim government? Will we have to pretend (a la Saddam Hussein 1983 and 1984) that people like Rumsfeld and Cheney never visited Pakistan and it was never our friend.
The effect of Cheney's visit to Pakastan was to show Musharraf as an American puppet, so Musharraf immediately made public statements that no foreign government would tell pakistan what to do. But everyone knows he is completely dependent on U.S. aid, so Musharraf was kidding nobody, including the Islamic factions that are conspiring to overthrow him. So, did Cheney know what he was doing when he publicly humiliated Musharraf? I suggest he knew exactly what he was doing - destabilizing Pakistan so it can become an Islamic state and a target in Bush's hoped-for "Armageddon". If this sounds insane, it certainly is, since we allowed election-fixing criminal madmen to occupy the White House.
Pakistan does not need the United States to guarantee its security. Musharraf needs the U.S. to secure his dictatorship. Musharraf had promised to step down several years ago and reneged after securing a guarantee of ongoing U.S. support for the dictatorship. Recall that Pakistan had been making significant progress toward democracy in the years before the coup, having India next door as an influential model. Pakistan's is not the only democracy whacked by U.S. empire ambitions.
Multi-pronged approaches work best. Along with demands on the US. Congress, Americans may write letters and include them in our tax returns, putting the government on notice that its bad behavior will lead to reductions in funding for the war machine. For example, in a two income household, one partner may simply quit work and do house repairs and take better care of the family.
And always wait until the very last minute to mail your tax return. It's one of many legal monkey wrenches we have available to throw into the war machine, to make the warmongering enterprise eternally insecure. Think of it as like training your dog. We can also do things like drive real slow on the streets of Washington, especially when one of those black SUVs is tailing us. Change lanes and block it from passing. In the most abstract, the crisis in America amounts to a simple question of power. Is the power going to be concentrated in a corruption-prone hierarchy, or will we take the power back and disperse it among the people, where common sense prevails?
Does anyone still not understand why Iran should be rushing the development of nuclear weapons? (even if it never originally intended to do so)
US is / was never a faithful friend / aly to Pakistan. The policies of US Govt are never to an aly ofwith specific government. IT changes 'as per need of time' that too on a short term.
Currently US is supporting Musharraf, who is losing ground very fast. He will soon be abondon as Saddam Hussain, Or eliminated like Zia Ul Haq. It is only matter of time and right opportunity for another general to step forward and be a tail wagging dog for US Govt.
Present US regime very strongly believe that Pakistan may become a Islamic state and the nuclear aresenal would be in UNSAFE hands. Thereby their only tormentor is non-civilian Militray General leading the country.
US wish no further blatant mistake of invading IRAN on threat behest of nuclear armament, therefore their strongest 'temporary aly in south asia / middle east is Pakistan' to keep check on Afghanistan, Iran, & Middle East. A Pakistan which must be ruled by non-civilian non-democratic government serving the current US interest in the region.
It is not Pakistan which need US - It is US which need Pakistan. PERIOD
When the Coalition forces led by the USA landed in Afghanistan where did most of the Taliban army go for refuge?
Pakistan of course where they were given sanctuary by Musharraf. The USA since that time, more than five years ago,
has been fighting with one hand tied behind its back.
The Taliban has flitted back and forward over the Afghan- Pakistan border without hindrance from the Pakistan army with the result the Taliban is stronger than ever and after five yearss the the USA effort has gone backwards.
The Bush administration has not only been operating dishonestly and illegally in Iraq it has been unbelievably stupid and incompetent across the whole spectrum of government responsibilities.
I think it's clear that Bush is helping Musharraf install the same kind of democratic regime in Pakistan that he'd like to see installed here in the US.
WmC,
Right, if only Bush could mount some epaulets on the shoulders of his National Guard uniform and stick some medals on his chest he could stand with Musharraf on a podium and review a military parade together in Washington or Islamabad. No? Oh well, I guess not everyone can be a brass hat, least of all our so impeachable President.
To the writer!
What were you smoking before you came up with this bucket load of crap? F-16s are made by Lockheed Martin and not Northrop Grumman. Pakistan has placed an order of 18 new F-16 Block 52+ (you actually took the block no. as the no. of aircrafts, LOL! shows how much you know about what you're writing, LOL!) and not 52.
For further information on why and how much aid was Pakistan given by the US for it's part in the War on Terror, read the following link.
http://dawn.com/2007/04/16/ebr3.htm