Musharraf Hunkers Down
03 November 2007 12:27 pm by Taylor Marsh
What exactly are we going to do about it?
The move appeared to be an effort by General Musharraf to reassert his fading
power in the face of growing opposition from the country's Supreme Court,
civilian political parties and hard-line Islamists. Pakistan's Supreme
Court was expected to rule within days on the legality of General Musharraf's
re-election last month as the country's president, which opposition
groups have said was improper.The emergency declaration was in direct defiance of repeated calls this week
from senior American officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
not to do so. A day earlier, the senior American military commander in the
Middle East, Admiral William J. Fallon, told General Musharraf and his top
generals in a meeting here that declaring emergency rule would jeopardize
the extensive American financial support for the Pakistani military. … ..… .. General Musharraf resorted to military power to gain the presidency
in October 1999 when he staged a bloodless coup, and Mr. Rizvi said this was
a return to those measures. “This is the first time Musharraf has brought
in military rule to sustain himself in power,” he said. “He felt
threatened by the Supreme Court.” … ..
Classic Rice: “I think it would be quite obvious that the United States
wouldn't be supportive of extra-constitutional means.” Okay
lady, it's your move. Expect radio silence.
This illuminates what Biden says in the video above and what we've been talking
about around here for a very long time. Iran isn't near the explosion that Pakistan
is. Which one has operational nuclear weapons right now? Which country
has a populace that is pro American? This is what comes from following a foreign
policy that is not in the United States best interest. We're in this mess because
Mr. Bush and his neocons believe remaking the Middle East and spreading democracy
would be good for everyone, including Israel, even if we make both of our countries
more vulnerable in the process.
Then there's the language coming out of the Senate about Iran, which begins with the Kyl-Lieberman legislation. As an aside, Larry Johnson said on my show this week that the legislation is irrelevant. So to Biden's point, Bush is going to do what he wants no matter what. Seasoned military and national security people are all over the map on its relevancy. But Larry also said that he's hearing that action on Iran will indeed happen within the next 8 months, though when I pressed him on where this talk originated he couldn't say because of making his sources vulnerable. Of course, then you've got Steve Clemons who believes Bush won't strike Iran. Meanwhile, Pakistan boils over.
This is no way for the world's super power to run our foreign policy. Calling
the realists, and step on it.
