Pakistani president goes ape shit
What do you do when your presidential term is up and you’re not quite ready to give up your administrative privileges?
If you’re Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, you declare a national state of emergency and fire everybody, including your Supreme Court Chief Justice. Then you throw all political dissidents in prison and shut down the free press.
Musharraf claims his power grab is for the future of Pakistan. The rest of the world thinks he’s completely lost his marbles.
Except for the United States. Yeah, we’re concerned, but Musharraf is one of our biggest allies in the War on Terror. We still need to send him aid to fight Islamic extremists.
“We’re obviously not going to do anything that will undermine the war on terror,” said Gordon Johndroe, a Bush spokesman.
It doesn’t seem to bother our administration that Musharraf is terrorizing his own people.
Correction – Nov. 5, 2007: This post originally spelled Pervez Musharraf incorrectly. Thanks to David S.
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Actually, it does bother people that the United States has sent $11 billion in military aid since 9/11 to a non-democratic government. It’s also troublesome how little Musharraf has done to fight terrorism in the northwest provinces of Pakistan. But when you’re fighting unsuccessful wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you take your allies, as troubling as they may be, where you can find them. (Saudi Arabia, anyone?)
This article seems to advocate ending aid to Musharraf. But the United States — and really, anyone who has a basic knowledge of the situation — realizes the danger a new leader poses here. A Pakistani president who sympathizes with Osama bin Laden could make Saddam Hussein circa 2003 seem very nonthreatening. After all, Pakistan actually has nuclear weapons. (And rogue Pakistani scientists are responsible for North Korea gaining nuclear arms as well.)
My point is that the current turmoil in Pakistan is more complicated than your pithy claim, “It doesn’t seem to bother our administration that Musharaff (sic) is terrorizing his own people.” This issue (and really, any foreign policy issue) deserves more than such a simplistic declaration. And your headline — “Pakistani President goes apeshit” — risks offending people of Pakistani origin. (Trust me, I would know.)
Nomaan
November 5, 2007 at 5:28 pm
My problem is that we’re refusing to denounce him because he’s one of our allies for the War on Terror. Which is ridiculous, because the atrocities he’s currently committing put him on par with any terrorist.
As for the “danger a new leader poses,” you seem to be supporting his attempts to hang onto power. The man didn’t even gain the presidency by way of election – he overthrew the government in a 1999 coup. And you’re advocating he stay put instead of allowing the elections to proceed?
And of course the issue is more complicated than what I wrote. The point of the Breaking News Blog is to post short commentary on news as it happens. People can click the links to read more if they’re interested.
As for the supposedly offensive title, I don’t get offended when people say that Bush is an idiot monkey boy. That’s because I know that the president of a country isn’t necessarily representative of the entire population.
Jessi Knowles
November 5, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Calling Musharraf a terrorist might feel satisfying, but it does little to help the United States in the short or long run. (You might recall Congress trying to pass a resolution declaring the deaths of Armenians in the early 20th century a genocide, and the possible repercussions that resolution would have had on our relations with Turkey, another key ally.)
I don’t support Musharraf’s actions, particularly his firings of Supreme Court justices who refused to swear allegiance to him under the state of emergency. But if Musharraf were to fall, the resulting chaos could endanger not just Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, but Kashmir as well. And that would help no one.
The U.S. is in a very tough situation (partially of its own making). But supporting Musharraf, at least for the time being, is better than possible anarchy.
You don’t have to write an entire essay on this, of course, because it is just a breaking news blog. But the other two posts on this blog did a good job of providing information without making unsubstantiated, simplistic claims about complicated issues, so I was a little surprised by the opinionated nature of this post and felt the need to respond.
And I’d like to think a reputable publication, albeit a college one, wouldn’t use the word “apeshit” in a heading. I guess we can agree to disagree.
Nomaan
November 5, 2007 at 9:39 pm
The problem with declaring Turkey’s actions against Armenians a genocide is that it happened in 1915. Congress deciding to declare it a genocide doesn’t do anything but piss Turkey off. Musharraff is committing these attrocities NOW, when the U.S. can still do something constructive about it, like deny aid.
If you had your way, we’d just leave Musharraff alone and wait to declare his actions crimes against humanity until, oh, say…2101.
The country IS destabilizing under Musharraff. Riots in the streets, no free press, mass arrests? Sounds pretty chaotic to me.
And people read us BECAUSE we use words like “apeshit” in a title. We’re college students, Nomaan, not stuffy, straightlaced tools.
Jessi Knowles
November 5, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Crimes against humanity? The actions Musharraf is taking are no different than what occurs routinely all over the Middle East — including countries we support. I’m not saying we should ignore what’s happening in Pakistan, but please look at the big picture here.
And I won’t descend to your level of ad hominem attacks, but I will say I’d expect a better insult from you than “stuffy, straightlaced tools.”
Nomaan
November 5, 2007 at 11:34 pm
Let’s at least spell the Pakistani president’s name correctly. ;)
David S.
November 5, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Just being a college student is no excuse for a poor article that dumbs down a complex situation. There’s nothing toolish about wanting the whole story – not the one dumbed down to a level far below even the lowest common denominator.
Dan
November 6, 2007 at 4:16 am
damn – i thought this was good – it told me what i need to know. and if i wanted to know more- i would lift my finger and click on the link that is already PROVIDED FOR ME – and whats wrong with apeshit – i like NBN because they say shit like this. im down with this blog
El Luchador
November 6, 2007 at 5:22 pm