Tuesday
Dec192006
Musharraf the next Saddam?
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 3:00AM
By Ellen Ratner
Musharraf the next Saddam?
Pakistan is supporting terrorism and the United States has propped up another dictator, another man who was not "elected" because he is being "helpful" in the war on terror. But although Pakistan is supposedly being helpful in the war on terror, terrorism is growing and we will now have a region of the world that is controlled by a dictator. Pervez Musharraf is bought and paid for by Uncle Sam. He is currently our "friend."
This all sounds suspiciously like our friend Saddam in the 1980s. He was helpful, we supported him and we were sure he would forever remain in our pocket. Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld shook hands with Saddam in 1983 in Baghdad.
The State Department had removed Iraq from states supporting terrorism in 1982. According to Mideast analyst Joyce Battle, loans were given and military helicopters were provided on a "don't ask, don't tell" basis. It did not really matter to the good ole USA that he was using chemicals that he obtained from the United States to mix up a brew that would then kill an entire town of his political enemies. He was "ours." We did not like his enemy Iran any more than he did, and of course he was a Sunni, just like our oil rich friends the Saudis
Shortly after 9-11, former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was in the United States and invited me to sit down with her for an interview. Smart and personable, she firmly expressed concern that now Pakistan "President" Musharraf was supporting terrorism. She expressed concern that he was telling the United States what it wanted to hear while willingly looking the other way as terrorism flourished in parts of Pakistan. Without saying it, she made it clear that support from the United States could easily turn Gen. Musharraf into another Saddam. Our friend today, our enemy tomorrow, she implied. Bhutto haters discount her by citing corruption by her husband and members of her family. However, Pakistan is known as one of the worlds most politically and financially corrupt countries, and Bhutto has not been prime minister for 16 years.
The Musharraf government has told the United States that it is concerned about the rise of the Taliban militants on the Afghan border, but its actions through the years have said otherwise. Supporters of the Taliban in Pakistan have been allowed to flourish. The New York Times reported this week that the former head of Pakistani intelligence, Gen. Hamid Gul, was reportedly financing a project to train suicide bombers and jihad fighters. Originally a Bhutto official and a collaborator with the CIA, he has now turned. In an interview with PBS's Frontline, he said, "They use these terms ... as a big stick to beat us with, otherwise Islam is either fundamentalist or not fundamentalist, just like Christianity. You go by the book and you are fundamentalist. So, Islamic society is essentially oriented to Quran. And if Quran is fundamentalist, then we all are fundamentalist, no exception[s], including Pervez Musharraf." In the same interview, he said "by supporting America on Afghanistan like we did after 9-11 and hurriedly joining the American camp, lock, stock and barrel – that is not working. It has failed us once again. And American friendship is not trustworthy. Americans, they are selfish. They have their own motive, which ... run counter to the basic objectives of Pakistan."
The International Crises Group has issued a report on Pakistan. In it they say, "The Musharraf government's ambivalent approach and failure to take effective action is destabilizing Afghanistan. . . . The government released militants, returned their weapons, disbanded security check posts and agreed to allow foreign terrorists to stay if they gave up violence. While the army has virtually retreated to barracks, this accommodation facilitates the growth of militancy and attacks in Afghanistan."
Our friend, "President " Musharraf also put the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, A.Q. Kahn, under house arrest and then pardoned him for selling nuclear secrets to other countries.
So, are we getting our money's worth? Is this another Saddam-type kiss-up job where we are tolerating a non-elected bad guy because it looks as if he is helping us fight the war on terror when he isn't? The problem is that this sweepstakes is bigger. The Taliban allows real terrorists to thrive, and we know Pakistan has real nuclear weapons. It isn't pretty – and if we think that Saddam caused us troubles, just wait till you see what Musharraf and his buddies will do in the next decade
Musharraf the next Saddam?
Pakistan is supporting terrorism and the United States has propped up another dictator, another man who was not "elected" because he is being "helpful" in the war on terror. But although Pakistan is supposedly being helpful in the war on terror, terrorism is growing and we will now have a region of the world that is controlled by a dictator. Pervez Musharraf is bought and paid for by Uncle Sam. He is currently our "friend."
This all sounds suspiciously like our friend Saddam in the 1980s. He was helpful, we supported him and we were sure he would forever remain in our pocket. Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld shook hands with Saddam in 1983 in Baghdad.
The State Department had removed Iraq from states supporting terrorism in 1982. According to Mideast analyst Joyce Battle, loans were given and military helicopters were provided on a "don't ask, don't tell" basis. It did not really matter to the good ole USA that he was using chemicals that he obtained from the United States to mix up a brew that would then kill an entire town of his political enemies. He was "ours." We did not like his enemy Iran any more than he did, and of course he was a Sunni, just like our oil rich friends the Saudis
Shortly after 9-11, former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was in the United States and invited me to sit down with her for an interview. Smart and personable, she firmly expressed concern that now Pakistan "President" Musharraf was supporting terrorism. She expressed concern that he was telling the United States what it wanted to hear while willingly looking the other way as terrorism flourished in parts of Pakistan. Without saying it, she made it clear that support from the United States could easily turn Gen. Musharraf into another Saddam. Our friend today, our enemy tomorrow, she implied. Bhutto haters discount her by citing corruption by her husband and members of her family. However, Pakistan is known as one of the worlds most politically and financially corrupt countries, and Bhutto has not been prime minister for 16 years.
The Musharraf government has told the United States that it is concerned about the rise of the Taliban militants on the Afghan border, but its actions through the years have said otherwise. Supporters of the Taliban in Pakistan have been allowed to flourish. The New York Times reported this week that the former head of Pakistani intelligence, Gen. Hamid Gul, was reportedly financing a project to train suicide bombers and jihad fighters. Originally a Bhutto official and a collaborator with the CIA, he has now turned. In an interview with PBS's Frontline, he said, "They use these terms ... as a big stick to beat us with, otherwise Islam is either fundamentalist or not fundamentalist, just like Christianity. You go by the book and you are fundamentalist. So, Islamic society is essentially oriented to Quran. And if Quran is fundamentalist, then we all are fundamentalist, no exception[s], including Pervez Musharraf." In the same interview, he said "by supporting America on Afghanistan like we did after 9-11 and hurriedly joining the American camp, lock, stock and barrel – that is not working. It has failed us once again. And American friendship is not trustworthy. Americans, they are selfish. They have their own motive, which ... run counter to the basic objectives of Pakistan."
The International Crises Group has issued a report on Pakistan. In it they say, "The Musharraf government's ambivalent approach and failure to take effective action is destabilizing Afghanistan. . . . The government released militants, returned their weapons, disbanded security check posts and agreed to allow foreign terrorists to stay if they gave up violence. While the army has virtually retreated to barracks, this accommodation facilitates the growth of militancy and attacks in Afghanistan."
Our friend, "President " Musharraf also put the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, A.Q. Kahn, under house arrest and then pardoned him for selling nuclear secrets to other countries.
So, are we getting our money's worth? Is this another Saddam-type kiss-up job where we are tolerating a non-elected bad guy because it looks as if he is helping us fight the war on terror when he isn't? The problem is that this sweepstakes is bigger. The Taliban allows real terrorists to thrive, and we know Pakistan has real nuclear weapons. It isn't pretty – and if we think that Saddam caused us troubles, just wait till you see what Musharraf and his buddies will do in the next decade
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