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Who Will Be The First To Blink?
Pakistan Teeters On The Edge While Bhutto, Musharraf Plot Out Next Moves
Pakistan's grave political crisis is now entering the red zone. I've been in regular contact with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. She calls the situation "grim." On Friday, she was put under house arrest, preventing her from leading a mass demonstration in Islamabad.
Bhutto tells me she may face another attempt to kill her. She accuses allies of President-General Pervez Musharraf of trying to assassinate her in the Oct. 18 bombing in Karachi that killed or wounded hundreds.
Bhutto had planned to lead a huge march next Tuesday from Lahore to Islamabad designed to confront the army -- Musharraf's power base -- in a dramatic showdown.
She and other opposition leaders are calling on Musharraf to resign as military chief and run in fair, internationally-supervised elections.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party commands broad popular support, particularly among poor and illiterate. But her attempt to unleash mass demonstrations has so far been thwarted by violent police repression against her supporters and arrest of political allies.
My Pakistani sources report growing unrest in the 619,000-man armed forces. Senior commanders, recently promoted by Musharraf after pre-approval by Washington, support him. But they are increasingly dismayed by the threat of a clash with civilians.
Next Strongman
Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, the newly named vice-chief of staff, could be Pakistan's next strongman. He's Washington's Plan B. If Musharraf does finally resign his command, Kiyani will control the military. Musharraf, who has near zero popular support, will be left without a power base -- or even army protection.
Bhutto tells me pro-Taliban tribesmen and Uzbek allies in Northwest Frontier Province on the wild Afghan border are rapidly taking over cities and towns.
Army troops ordered to attack them have surrendered or refused to fire.
This could mark the beginning of a rebellion in the ranks.
The loyalty of the army's senior officers has been rented by billions of dollars of secret aid the CIA has funnelled through Musharraf.
Official post-9/11 U.S. aid to Pakistan is $10.6 billion, but "black" payments are many times higher.
These mammoth payoffs have not trickled down to the mid and lower ranks. They have vanished into the pockets of the military brass and senior officials.
Gen. Hamid Gul, former director general of Pakistan's intelligence service, ISI, and an old friend from the 1980s Afghan War, has also been arrested.
He kept accusing Musharraf of selling out Pakistan's national interests in return for cash and U.S. support for his dictatorship -- and of dishonouring the military. Gen. Gul, a Pakistani patriot, still has many friends in the army and ISI.
He shouted what many officers whisper.
Bush and Mush
This week, the self-appointed apostle of democracy, George W. Bush, underlined his continued support for his ally, Musharraf. Bush called on Mush to doff his uniform and hold elections. Musharraf dutifully agreed to do so early next year and to hold elections.
But Musharraf has won every previous elections by blatant vote-rigging and bribery -- we can expect more of the same.
He would lose any fair vote by a landslide.
Bush made no mention of Musharraf's disgraceful firing of Supreme Court justices who were about to declare Mush's ongoing rule violated the constitution. Nor has Bush or the U.S. Congress issued any demands that the exiled former PM Nawaz Sharif, leader of Pakistan's other major political party, the Muslim League, be allowed to return to contest elections. So much for supporting democracy.
In Washington's wrongheaded view, it's either Mush or the mullahs. Or if Mush falters, then it's Bhutto or Gen. Kiyani.
As of this writing, Bhutto still has not decided whether to collaborate with Musharraf or try to force a bloody confrontation with him.
Kiyani remains a cipher.
Anyone who still wonders why so many in the Muslim world hate the West needs look no further than Pakistan, where, in the name of "democracy" and "counter-terrorism," Washington and London are stirring a witches brew of dictatorship, intrigue and violence.
Eric Margolis writes a regular column for The Toronto Sun.
© 2007 The Toronto Sun
27 Comments so far
Show All"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" philosophy has gotten the U.S. in more trouble around the world over the years. Witness Saddam, the Shah, Noriega, Allende, etc. Now Musharraf, Bhutto.
We keep meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and create Frankensteins, then we have to eliminate them. Notice how Bush didn't mention all the lawyers arrested and the judges silenced. Makes you wonder if he's taking notes, or letting them use his playbook. Bhutto's regime was mired in corruption, but she looks good compared to Mushie and his thugs right now. Same song, different verse.
Eric Margolis' last paragraph ways it all: "in the name of 'demcocracy' and 'counter-terrorism," Washington and London are stirring a witches brew of dictatorship, intrigue and violence."
Bush mushes Mush. Old story.
"Who Will Be The First To Blink?"
Does it matter? Bhutto vs Musharraf looks to me a lot like an export version of Clinton vs Giuliani.
Rothschild is purported once to have said: "Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws." The updated version appears to append: "And let me control the selection of a nation's political candidates and I care not who gets elected."
strong line of continuity. washington "promotes democracy" abroad, unless it conflicts with the interests of the united states--in which case, it undermines and subverts any sort of democratic movement. see: indonesia, lebanon, nicaragua, venezuela, et cetera, et cetera.
"So much for supporting democracy."
Margolis is an old cold-war supporter who it seems suddenly sees it fit to usher in democracy into Pakistan. Wasnt he the Musharraf supporting dickwad in a previous life (read 8 yrs agao).
True Democracy in Pakistan is the only way out and also for the U.S. to get the hell out of there. This also means allowing ALL Pakistani parties to be represented in elections that have to be monitored by International agencies. Fundamentalist parties have around 20% of popular support but that is increasing by the day. The entire International community has a stake in having a stable democracy in Pakistan. Thanks to all our (U.S.) sins these last 60 years, we've created the next incendiary fireball in the region.
The same ol same ol: It does not matter who or how egregious the thug is----AS LONG AS HE IS OUR THUG.
"...Thanks to all [current and previous administration] sins these last 60 years, [Bu$hCo etal] have created the next incendiary fireball in the region...."
And I might add armed to the teeth with approximately 60 'nuucleear' war heads with delivery systems and about 30 Billion worth of Military hardware; thanks to good Ol' Uncle Sham...
The Mullahs could do some real damage... Make Ol' Saddam look like a stroll in the park!
Oh I forgot, didn't Bu$hco invade Iraq for WMD? Perhaps they should have taken a right turn off the Strait of Hormuz..
Fancy, racking up a bill of 2.5 Trillion dollars accrued over the next 10 years, forcing the dollar into the toilet, Oil to 98 dollars a barrel, whopping federal deficit, an army of suffering and homeless vets, a million dead Iraqis and on and on...
Only to discover the wrong country was invaded or no country should have been invaded at all...Apart from Bu$hCo being a evil criminal disgrace, what a fuck-up!
And for frosting on the cake, Newsweek is reporting that Musharaff has released more than two dozen Taliban prisoners, including the #3 in command. Link here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/69494
For what its worth, the Taliban prisoners were exchanged for 210 government soldiers who were captured by a pro-Taliban Pakistani warlord last August. It was originally a 250-man convoy of troops that surrendered without a shot to the warlord's forces. The "missing" 40 in the total were killed or subsequently beheaded.
Well, at least it wasn't a pardon. You know, like Musharaff granted to A.Q. Khan - the head of Pakistan's nuclear program who also sold centrifuges, HEU technology, and implosion detonation information to Iran, North Korea, Syria and Libya.
link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Khan
Bush is being played like a fiddle. And no one in our media has the guts to call him on it.
Bush and his Dick (my private torture fantasies for this motherf~!r transcends normal and borders on deviant) are only the latest in a stream of U.S. administrations that have supported Pakistani generals all these years.
Nixon and Kissinger hated Indira Gandhi when she stood up for the Bangladeshis and allowed them to break away from a corrupt and murderous Pakistani regime. You could say what you want about Indira Gandhi (truly one of the great South Asian women leaders) but she had brass balls and stared down the Sixth Fleet which was deployed to the Indian Ocean.
Unfortunately for Pakistan and its people, the very foundation and formation of Pakistan was based on a fallacy of a two-nation theory (mono-theist as opposed to secular). Instead of overcoming these problems, Pakistan has been cursed (or blessed according to the military) by never-ending U.S. involvement in its affairs.
"Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party commands broad popular support, particularly among poor and illiterate."
You would have to be illiterate and ignorant of history to support Bhutto. She stole billions from the people of Pakistan to buy fancy houses all over Europe. She is an opportunist and a fraud. Her only good quality is she knows how to talk a good talk, especially to gullible Westerners. Pakistanis deserve better than Musharraf and Bhutto.
http://eteraz.wordpress.com/2007/09/01/the-corruption-of-benazir-bhutto/
" Amnesty International accused her government of having one of the world's worst records of custodial deaths, extrajudicial killings and torture. Bhutto's premiership was also distinguished by epic levels of corruption. In 1995 Transparency International named Pakistan one of the three most corrupt countries in the world. Bhutto and her husband, Asif Zardari - widely known as "Mr 10%" - faced allegations of plundering the country."
I've just finished reading Three Cups of Tea by an American mountain climber, Greg Mortenson. He was moved by compassion for the children of Pakistan and has been building schools in remote areas of Pakistan for girls and boys. He contends that getting a good education is what the children need. And that finally is going to change the nation for the better. It's a good read. I commend it to you.
Pakistan has 50 nukes. No one knows how secure they are. Musharaff declares a state of emergency and starts arresting... progressives.
I figure, if you keep Osama laughing long enough, he'll have a heart attack.
See where your tax money is being sent by this unauthorized unelected American government headed by Bush? To line the personal pockets of a dictator and his army? You thought your taxes were going to benefit America? Our infrastructure? Even our troops? Forget it.
I cannot begin to express my outrage over what Bush is doing with middle-class and poverty-level American taxpayers' hard-earned money. I'd like to see the personal fortunes of everybody in the Bush administration confiscated and used to begin to repay America's astronomical debt that Bush has run up before a single penny more of Americans' money is paid out.
anney,
I totally share your sentiment.
The amount of taxpayers' money that has been squandered since 9/11 in Iraq (overcharging by U.S. contractors, corruption of Iraqi politicians, plain loss and theft of money, etc.), Afghanistan, and Pakistan is so vast that the average citizen might not even believe it if it were disclosed to him or her. Always the same story, though: this type of information simply is not sufficiently disseminated throughout the nation. Or am I wrong about that? Methinks that if it were, people would be more outraged than they seem to be.
Eric should know that Bhutto is a notorius liar and she and her husband's family are miered in criminal activities.
As is Obvious this is the Big Time on this Earth, etc For those of you not
aware of the astoundingly accurate predictions concerning this Now moment;
The US and our global police role and the ongoing human war machine and it's
seemingly inevitable Cosmic climax–from the Pleiadeans via Billy Meier called
the HENOCH PROPHECIES check this out:
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/Henoch%20Prophecies.html
"So many of the Plejaren predictions given to Swiss contactee Billy Meier have come true, that we'd be wise to heed the warning that terrible things will befall humanity and our planet if we can't learn to live together".
Could Musharraf's actions be a Beta test for actions to be taken by the Bushcos next year?
Will the U.S. hold elections next year?
Something to ponder.
#
SHANTI November 11th, 2007 2:25 pm
"The same ol same ol: It does not matter who or how egregious the thug is—-AS LONG AS HE IS OUR THUG."
Excellent comment Shanti and I want to thank you for toning down on the caps.
Lobo Gris
"The loyalty of the army's senior officers has been rented by billions of dollars of secret aid the CIA has funnelled through Musharraf.
Official post-9/11 U.S. aid to Pakistan is $10.6 billion, but "black" payments are many times higher."
And those covert-funds can just as easily be spent (at whim of Director, this Admin, or 'powers that be') on the-opposite -- next-week.
[Such is the Nature, and lack-of-accountability, of the massive slush-Fund generated by the CIA involvement/profit from the Drug-trade, and oft-blackmailed 'donations' from wealthy/allied-Islamics, and other-such 'tainted/invisible lucre'.]
One walks a knifes-edge when becoming an American-puppet (something Bhutto really should 'take note of', methinks?)...best to "Be careful what you wish-for".
YOJ: Interesting link. I have studied prophecy many years but never heard of this guy. It's clear among the spiritually astute that Bush is a disaster for the world, and IS courting Armageddon.
Note that conditions have deteriorated in Turkey, now Pakistan, of course Iraq-Iran, and Lebandon-Israel. The entire region is an inferno of hate, mistrust and despair. In White's "The Once and Future King," a story of Avalon and the rise and fall of King Arthur, the great magician notes that "the king and land are one." Expanding on this metaphor, how the leader behaves impacts everything else. It's not so much "Divine right of kings" as it is the way people mimic their leader. Bush making force first his 'divine' right, has led to other countries and US law enforcement taking risks that FAVOR force.
It's tragic when things come apart this way; yet when the center fails to hold, when splitting apart becomes inevitable, out of the broken carcass new life emerges. (Of course this Truth holds a more optimistic promise in a world where the time-defying detritus of DU has not been sprinkled about like the devil's fairy dust!)
gyptian:"Nixon and Kissinger hated Indira Gandhi when she stood up for the Bangladeshis and allowed them to break away from a corrupt and murderous Pakistani regime. You could say what you want about Indira Gandhi (truly one of the great South Asian women leaders) but she had brass balls and stared down the Sixth Fleet which was deployed to the Indian Ocean."
So very very true . Indira Gandhi, whatever her faults , had more steely grit and determination in one little finger than most other modern world leaders have in their entire bodies. Had she been around for longer India would not have ended up as little more than a stooge of the West.
Eric Margolis : "Gen. Hamid Gul, former director general of Pakistan's intelligence service, ISI, and an old friend from the 1980s Afghan War."
What a sadly blinkered , mentally doddering ,cretin this Margolis is . Gen. Hamid Gul was to the proliferation of Radicalism what A.Q. Khan was to nuclear proliferation.
"old friend 'indeed .
Margolis' statement that Musharaf has zero support in Pakistan is total nonsense. I came back from Pakistan recently and keep in contact with many people there. Musharaf is widely respected. On the other hand Bhutto is regaded by many as corrupt. She has a power-base but it is exaggerated by the Western media. Musharaf is, at least, clean. He is far from the "dictator" he is being portrayed as. He saved the country from bankruptcy and is widely seen as acting in the best interests of Pakistan - a federation of provinces in danger of fragmenting. Contrary to the Western media's demonization of him he has enacted several progressive reforms in recent years that have aggravated Islamic extremists - as we saw in the show-down at the red mosque. These extremists want to tear Pakistan apart. Most Pakistanis seem to grasp the severity of the problem - except for wealthy liberal Westernizers (like Western educated lawyers) who threaten to dismantle the country from the other end of the ideological spectrum. Margolis' article is completely inaccurate. Bhutto is not the saintly darling she is portrayted as by the Western liberal media. And Musharaf is not Stalin either. Let's get all this in perspective!
Musharraf and his Army/ISI buddies created the Taliban and aided and funded all the other extremist/fundamentalist groups all these years to gain strategic control over Afghanistan (via Taliban) and destabilize India (JEM, HUM and a host of other extremist groups). These detrimental policies have come back to bite him in the ass.
If Musharraf really had all this support from the people, what is holding him back from standing for elections ?
As i mentioned in another blog:
What a bunch of crock. If this was the case why would Musharraf crush all opposition to keep himself in power !!! If he is so popular he could easily stand for elections and win right ?? Isnt that logical ?!!
Musharrafs support is mainly amongst the upper classes in Pakistan who have benefitted from his policies of crony capitalism. Unless you are completely blind the street protests in Pakistan and the analysis of every valid independant journalist suggests that Musharraf is deeply unpopular and so is military rule. If you had to choose between military rule and fundamentalists i suppose you would choose Musharraf !!
As for Margolis, the very fact that he keeps company with Hamid Gul ( who created and nurtured these fundamentalists in his lab !!) says enough about him and his views.
- Nixon and Kissinger hated Indira Gandhi when she stood up for the -
- Bangladeshis and allowed them to break away from a corrupt and
- murderous -- Pakistani regime. You could say what you want about
- Indira - Gandhi (truly one of the great South Asian women leaders) but
- she had brass balls and stared down the Sixth Fleet which was deployed
- to the Indian Ocean
Indira Gandhi, a visionary & nation builder in her own ways, was a Gandhi (yes, the Mahatma) when compared with her party brigands who loot the country today. Yet, we should not forget that she was tyrant in her times & did the exact things that Mushy is doing today - she could not stand an opposition from any distance, so imprisoned all oppositin leaders in 1975 and imposed an emergency. Countless leaders, many legendaries with a legacy of freedom movement in their ranks, were imprisoned and beaten mercilessly during the 18 month of emergency. Indira Gandhi, during her 16 year odd rule of India, practically destroyed every democratic institution envisioned by the Indian founding fathers - filled every conceivable position of authority and responsibility with her cronies & bootlickers. Yet she had a legacy from her dad Nehru and was a tyrant with some vision & belief in India as a country.
Hari
"filled every conceivable position of authority and responsibility with her cronies & bootlickers. "
This is certainly not restricted to Indira Gandhi ... a cursory look at Indian politics will confirm the above under any political party. But to compare Indira to Mush is over the top and I suggest you go back and re-read your history.