Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Pakistan

Just in case you might have thought that, well, we only have 440 days left of George W. Bush's presidency and How Much Worse Could It Get? you'd better get up to snuff on what's going on in Pakistan. Always a good place to start is with Professor Cole at Informed Comment. Money quote at the very end of the article:

If Bush and Cheney are ever tempted into extreme measures in the United States, Musharraf has provided a template for how it would unfold. Maintain you are moving against terrorists and extremists, but actually move against the rule of law. Rubin has accepted the suggested term of "lawfare" to describe this kind of warfare by executive order.....to which I would only add: "IF???"

This segues rather perfectly to a comment by Maha.

Another must-read on the subject is this article by hilzoy at Obsidian Wings who, with mulitple links and references, spells out our role in this mess rather clearly. Don't read it on an empty stomach.

And finally, over at the Carpetbagger Report, there is this article which includes this little gem:

As for the president’s vaunted “freedom agenda” — Bush repeated just a few days ago, “We are standing with those who yearn for liberty” — that’s no longer operative.

All of the above only serves to reinforce the point that every single person who cast a vote for George W. Bush in 2000 and in 2004 has a whole lot of bad karma to work off for putting our country in the hands of this guy:

5 comments:

Freewheel said...

It's really deplorable that Bush hasn't frozen U.S. aid to Pakistan, sought U.N. sanctions, or taken any other action of consequence. This powergrab is not intended to stop the terrorists -- it's intended to stop the moderates from winning a democratic election! Moreover, we (American taxpayers) are funding this dictator! It's outrageous.

AnnPW said...

That it is, freewheel, that it is. Unfortunately, my outrage meter broke a long time ago. The hilzoy article does a very good job of explaining what a difficult position we are in, thanks to the Bush Administration, and why those steps you suggested aren't likely to be taken.

Ricky Bones said...

Yeah, here is a nuclear country that has supposedly leaked nuclear secrets, led by a leader who got into power by a coup, then has become our ally, and suspended its own constitution and put martial law into place.

Democracy? Liberty?

So, how does this help our ally fight Al Qaeda, who is currently based there when they only seem to be jailing lawyers and jusges who oppose the illegal action? There's some of that democracy and liberty we are spreading.

The people of Pakistan our going to resent us if this continues. They will essentially see this as them losing their freedoms so we can keep ours, specifically in that region.

AnnPW said...

I think the people of Pakistan already resent us, RB, which is why Musharaf is in so much trouble - he is widely seen in his country as a puppet of the US. We are going to have SOOOO much work to do to repair our standing in the world once Bush is gone.

Freewheel said...

Here's a plan - do nothing right now but continue to support Musharaf. Then, 20 years from now, George P. Bush can wage war on Musharaf based on all the things he did back in '07 (and probably '08). Democrats who won't go along (in 2027 & 2028) will be criticized for supporting a ruthless dictator.