NationStates Jolt Archive

West's darling and moderately enlightened Musharraf is valiantly fighting the war on terror...

Oh and for those who don't know (and that might just be everyone else in this forum), Obaidullah was the highest ranking taliban ever captured by Pakistan. They captured only a handful of actual taliban (high ranking or not) as opposed to countless Al-Qaeda #3s and assorted Pashtun goatherds packed off to gitmo as AQ for bounty dollars.

Following the imposition of emergency by Musharraf to....get this...protect the country from extremism......he has released Obaidullah.

Yay for GOAT or GWOT or Whatever it is called now.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/69494
While Pakistan Burns

If you think Musharraf's wrong to free jailed Taliban members while he busts dissidents, wait until you hear who's back on the loose.
By Sami Yousafzai and Ron Moreau
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 11:27 PM ET Nov 9, 2007

Pakistani lawyers, human-rights activists and opposition-party members can scarcely ignore the irony of their situation: while thousands of them are being beaten and locked up under President Pervez Musharraf's newly declared state of emergency, his government has just let more than two dozen militant Islamists out of jail. Protesters might be even angrier if Musharraf disclosed the names of some of those freed militants. Taliban sources tell NEWSWEEK that the top man on the list was Mullah Obaidullah Akhund—the highest-ranking Taliban official ever captured by the Pakistanis. As one of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's closest confidants and his defense minister until the post 9-11 invasion of Afghanistan, Obaidullah was No. 3 in the group's hierarchy and a member of its ruling 10-man shura (council).

His arrest on Feb. 26 seems to have been anything but a coincidence. That was the very day that Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Islamabad on an unannounced visit to demand a crackdown on Taliban operations in Pakistan. Washington was out of patience with Taliban commanders not only roaming free in Pakistan's tribal lands but even being allowed to hide in plain sight in cities like Quetta--the provincial capital near the Afghan border where Obaidullah was captured, along with the Taliban's senior Zabul province commander, Amir Khan Haqqani.
Obaidullah, Haqqani and the others might still be in jail if not for a Pakistani military convoy that encountered a rockslide on a highway in South Waziristan in late August. The vehicles were quickly surrounded by fighters loyal to the notorious Pakistani tribal warlord Baitullah Mehsud, a veteran Taliban supporter who operates training camps for suicide bombers in his territory. More than 250 government troops were in the convoy, and they all surrendered without a shot being fired. Mehsud later beheaded several of his captives before Musharraf agreed to a prisoner swap.

Mehsud finally released the last 211 surviving hostages on Nov. 4, the day after Musharraf declared a state of emergency and began rounding up dissidents in the name of confronting "extremism and terrorism." In exchange for the freed troops, the tribal warlord got the men he wanted out of jail. Besides Obaidullah and Haqqani, they included two brothers of another senior Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani. He and his two brothers had shared a house in Quetta until his death last December. U.S. forces, reportedly tipped off by Pakistani intelligence, killed him as he was crossing into Afghanistan. His brothers were arrested at his house in Quetta at the same time. Also released was Mehsud's cousin, who was the first suicide bomber captured with his suicide vest intact.

Intelligence reports of Obaidullah's release have raised concern among American officials. At the moment they're still checking whether it was in fact the senior Taliban official who was freed and not someone else by the same name. A Pakistani military source denied to NEWSWEEK that Obaidullah had been released—but in the next breath claimed to be unaware that Obaidullah had ever been captured.[errr...WTF] At least two important Taliban commanders have confirmed to NEWSWEEK that Mullah Omar's third in command is back on the loose. Another Taliban operative says Obaidullah spoke to one of his fellow fighters on the phone several days ago.

In any case the prisoner swap is a severe setback for U.S. efforts in the region. The Taliban and their Pakistani tribal allies have learned that hostage taking can yield big rewards. And these days they have all the potential trading chips they could ask for in the borderlands, where Pakistan's out-maneuvered and increasingly demoralized troops are almost routinely surrendering to the militants. For now, the people of Pakistan will have to take any comfort they can from knowing that Musharraf is protecting them from lawyers and human rights activists.

and he got the army act amended so now he can try civilians in military courts.

another yay.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/11/top1.htm
Civilians can be court-martialled : Army Act amended



By Nasir Iqbal


ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: The government on Saturday amended the Army Act of 1952 to give wide-ranging powers to the Army to court-martial civilians.

Under the amended act, the Army can now try civilians on charges ranging from treason, sedition and attack on army personnel to “assaulting the president with intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power” and “giving statements conducive to public mischief”.

The unamended Army Act, too, had a provision to hold court martial of civilians but only when at least one of the accused belonged to the armed forces.

In recent years, several members of the extremist Islamic groups have been tried and sentenced by different field court martial, but in all these cases members of the armed forces were also involved.Many of these cases related to abortive attempts on General Pervez Musharraf’s life.

Although not stated in clear terms, one of the underlined reasons for the amendment to the Army Act is said to be the inability of the existing anti-terrorism courts to hold proper or speedy trials of the people involved in acts of terrorism or fanning religious or other brands of armed militancy in the country.

“For quite some time some amendments were being considered, but the proposed amendment has now been notified,” Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum told Dawn on Saturday from Lahore.

The amendment, he said, had been made only in Section 2 (1-d) of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, by adding some more offences of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and allowing the military courts to try and convict the civilians.

The amendment has been made through an ordinance that will come into force at once and will be deemed to have taken effect from Jan 2003.

Under the amendment, a sub-clause (iia) will be inserted into the sub-clause (ii) which says: “Any offence, if committed in relation to defence or security of Pakistan or any part thereof or Armed Forces of Pakistan, punishable under the Explosive Substance Act, 1908 (VI of 1908), prejudicial conduct under the Security of Pakistan Act, 1952 (XXXV of 1952), the Pakistan Arms Ordinance, 1965 (W.P.Ord. XX of 1965), the Prevention of Anti-national Activities Act, 1974 (VII of 1974) or Anti-terrorism Act, 1997 (XXVII of 1997), Sections 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 117 (abetting commission of offence by the public, or by more than ten persons), 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan), 121A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by Section 121), 122 (collecting arms, etc., with intention of waging war against Pakistan), 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war), 123A (condemnation of the creation of the state and advocacy of abolition of its sovereignty), 124 (assaulting president, governor, etc., with intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power), 124A (sedition), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 302 (punishment of Qatl-i-amd), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 505 (statement conducive to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code or attempt to commit any of the said offences.”

“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 89 of the Constitution read with proclamation of emergency of the of third day of November 2007 and the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) No 1 of 2007, the president is pleased to make and promulgate the ordinance,” the government notification said.

It's fucking zia ul huq all over again.

I hate this. I know this is going to end bad.

At least Musharraf isn't as ugly as Zia was. :p



Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

I couldn't either

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/c/c5/General_Zia-ul-Haq.jpg

I couldn't either

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/c/c5/General_Zia-ul-Haq.jpg

This, boys and girls, is why inbreeding is a baaaaaad idea. :D

But back on topic, considering Musharraf had to be bribed and threatened to "support" the War on Terror, treating him as an indispensable ally is stupid. He's an opportunistic partisan self-serving hack.

from http://www.dailypioneer.com/

Pretty good article tracing the support all the military dictators enjoyed with US admin.

Nixon's "To All Hands: Don't squeeze Yahya" note when Yahya's army was killing hundreds of thousands of Bengalis with American weapons come to mind.

Nothing has changed.

Blame America, not Musharraf


Ever since last Saturday, when Gen Pervez Musharraf declared a state of Emergency in Pakistan, the world appears to have woken up to the absence of democracy in that benighted country. The European Union, which ardently believes that its primary responsibility is to promote the European way of life, such as it is, has been in the forefront of expressing distress and demanding that democracy be restored in the 'Land of the Pure'. Reluctant to be seen as not pushing its totally discredited -- and thoroughly impractical -- democracy agenda, the Bush Administration has also been growling at Gen Musharraf. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took time off from hectic negotiations with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to issue a stern message: The General must discard his uniform and get back to the task of holding elections to the National Assembly and the Provincial Assemblies. President George W Bush, not given to eloquence, has issued a similar statement. Other lesser Presidents, Prime Ministers and self-appointed guardians of freedom have added their tuppence worth views on how to save Pakistan from dictatorship and ensure constitutional rule.:D

But the flood of reactions has apparently had little effect on the man in the eye of the storm. Gen Musharraf remains undeterred, or at least appears to be unruffled. Pakistan's image has never ever been worse than what it is today; Newsweek may have suddenly discovered that it is the "most dangerous country" in the world, but we need not be influenced by such realisation, not least because American media is as fickle as those who manage American affairs. If it suits Washington, American media will see nothing but virtue in the devil and mock at those who dare question its 'wisdom'. When an individual is no longer seen as serving American interest, he or she is denounced in an inquisitorial manner. Hence, The Washington Post and The New York Times, which would routinely trash India's evidence of Pakistani perfidy in promoting cross-border terrorism much after 9/11 had happened simply because Gen Musharraf was America's blue-eyed boy, have now begun to berate him for not keeping the many promises he had made to his masters in the White House, the State Department and to the Pentagon. In its usual sly manner, American media has chosen to gloss over the fact that the situation which prevails in Pakistan today is really a reflection of the abysmal failure of US policy which has favoured the Army over the political class in that country ever since its wretched birth 60 years ago.

If elected representatives of the people have ruled Pakistan for less than two decades of its existence, it is primarily because the US, looking for a strategic perch in South Asia, has actively promoted military rulers who would be loyal and not question American intentions. Gen Ayub Khan would not have come to power in October 1958 if the US had not decided to deny Pakistan an elected Government simply because it believed -- perhaps with good reason -- politicians would not meekly agree to do Washington's bidding. Gen Ayub Khan, trained at Sandhurst and with a pronounced preference for the good things of life that are frowned upon by Islam, was a perfect ally for Governments on both sides of the Atlantic. The American media feted him, even when he pompously declared, "Democracy cannot work in a hot climate. To have democracy, we must have a cold climate like Britain." The New York Times thought he was talking about placing Pakistan on the road to democracy! Strangely, American media, like the American Government, did not bother about Gen Ayub Khan's dictatorial regime -- the Pakistani Press was muzzled, dissidents were thrown into jail and tortured (Abu Ghraib came much later) and bogus elections were held to create the illusion of civilian rule.

When Gen Yahya Khan seized power, he had the full backing of the US which by then had decided that Gen Ayub Khan was a charlatan who could not deliver on his promises. Eager to please his masters, Gen Yahya Khan held elections in January 1970 and then decided not to hand over power to the Awami League which had won a clear majority. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for a liberation struggle and Bangladesh was born, but not before Gen Yahya Khan's troops had indulged in every possible atrocity, including massacre and mass rape. Legend has it that during those terrible days when the world wept over the plight of East Pakistanis, Gen Yahya Khan was closeted with his favourite harlot, known in Pakistani garrisons as 'General Rani'; one evening, he was seen dancing on the streets of Peshawar, minus his uniform and innerwear, with that woman in his arms.

And what was Washington's response to Gen Yahya Khan's outrageous campaign to bludgeon East Pakistan into submission? The US refused to acknowledge the atrocities, snubbed India for seeking to influence world opinion and, in a grand show of solidarity with their favourite Pakistani dictator, sent the Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal. Funnily enough, the man who was then crafting American policy, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, would now want us to believe that his heart beats for India!

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto provided an interlude but his corrupt Government was so hated by the masses that there were celebrations when Gen Zia-ul Haq hanged him in 1979, with the Supreme Court acting as an accomplice, after seizing power in 1977. Gen Zia, like the other two Generals who had ruled Pakistan before him, was also blessed by the US which looked on admiringly as he went about demolishing the little that was left of democratic institutions and politics in Pakistan with the zeal of a bigot. He handed over the Ministries of Information and Education to the Jamat-e-Islami, introduced Islamic rule and made public flogging into popular entertainment. The Americans, including the American media, loved him because he was a "valuable ally" in the US-financed and armed jihad against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Gen Zia was to later die when the plane in which he was flying blew up. The death of US Ambassador Arnold Raphael in that 'accident' was collateral damage.

Gen Musharraf too is America's protege. He is in power because the US wants him to rule Pakistan. He has the added task of cleaning up the mess which is largely America's doing. If the US is hated in Pakistan today, the reasons are not unknown to those who are now chanting the democracy mantra in Washington.

I couldn't either

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/c/c5/General_Zia-ul-Haq.jpg

Ye gods! It's hideous!

Pervy Musharraf is simply a Muslim Fred Marcos with military background, and anyone with a memory for history can see Pakistan is basically Phillippines 1986 all over again, right down to the parallels.