Pakistan-The unruly stepchild.

For all the millions we have sent to Pakistan, and specifically to Musharaf, we aren’t getting much of a return on our investment these days. With the new regime there being sworn in, the anti-american sentiment is running pretty high. Who can blame them for hating us? Being in the middle between Bush’s War on Terror and the tribal leaders who support the Al-Qaeda types can’t be a good place to be. From the TNR writeup:

To make matters worse, Pakistanis increasingly believe that they are paying the price for our war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Pakistanis are interpreting the increasing terror attacks in the country as a direct response to the recent uptick in our bombing of Al Qaeda targets in the border areas. All of this means that a negative reaction to the arrival of senior U.S. envoys should not have been unexpected. Pakistanis believe that they are carrying out a democratic coup, sweeping away the illegitimate underpinnings of the Musharraf presidency, and are not about to take kindly to American efforts to shore up Musharraf or preserve his policies.

They want change–not just with Musharraf himself, but also with his policies for dealing with terror. The question for the U.S. is whether we can live with the change, and at the same time, manage it so that Al Qaeda and the Taliban not only don’t benefit, but also lose their sanctuary in Pakistan.

Change..its a good thing sometimes, but we really don’t know how Pakistan, a nuclear-laden country, will deal with America and the Terrorists yet. But the message is getting clearer as this part of the writeup notes:

One more irony: The big winner in the elections in the tribal areas was the Awami National Party (A.N.P.), which has long accused Musharraf and the Pakistani intelligence services of duplicity in its dealings with Islamist groups. The A.N.P. opposes talks with Al Qaeda and foreign militants because, as Afrasiab Khattak, the secretary general of the A.N.P., has said, “We don’t have a common language with them.” But the party does favor an approach that emphasizes dialogue with the local tribes, economic development and assistance to the area, and the use of the police rather than the military (except in limited circumstances) to bring peace to the provinces. If anything, Nawaz Sharif has been more outspoken about how to deal with terror, calling for talking rather than the use of force.

Talking to terrorists? What a novel approach! We, the universal we, will have to stay up to date with this situation as Bush’s war in Afghanistan depends on how Pakistan deals with the Al-Qaeda strongholds in Waziristan.

Crossposted at Sirens Chronicles

If only we could bust Bush like this..

According to Human Rights Watch..the Pakistan Attorney General admitted in a phone conversation that the Pakistan elections…to be held this coming Monday..will be rigged.

The idiot AG was on a phone call, picked up a second phone call and didn’t disconnect the first one..which recorded the conversation they heard. Now, the convo is in Pakistan’s native language..so really we have to rely on HRW to tell us what is being said..which btw, you can listen to here, it also includes the translation.

From the HRW writeup:

In an audio recording obtained by Human Rights Watch, Pakistan’s Attorney General Malik Qayyum stated that upcoming parliamentary elections will be “massively rigged,” Human Rights Watch said today.

In the recording, Qayyum appears to be advising an unidentified person on what political party the person should approach to become a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary election, now scheduled for February 18, 2008.

Human Rights Watch said that the recording was made during a phone interview with a member of the media on November 21, 2007. Qayyum, while still on the phone interview, took a call on another telephone and his side of that conversation was recorded. The recording was made the day after Pakistan’s Election Commission announced the schedule for polls. The election was originally planned for January 8 but was postponed after the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, returned to Pakistan on November 25.

Ain’t that some shit? But it doesn’t surprise me one iota..not in Pakistan and with Musharraf at the helm. Crooked bastard takes our money and lies through his ever-lovin teeth about Al-Qaeda, and what happened to Benazir Bhutto.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim will run in Bhutto’s spot.

The party of Benazir Bhutto has already picked a new candidate. But you wouldn’t know who by the individual who was doing the talking at the latest press conference. Bhutto’s husband spoke longer and more often than Bhutto’s son or the new candidate that will represent the opposition party in place of Benazir Bhutto.

Yet Fahim predicted that Zardari would be the kingmaker — consolidating his hold on the party by creating his own clique of advisers — and that some of those close to Bhutto would fade away.– per the IHT article linked above.

I don’t know about you, my dear reader, but its a crap-shoot in Pakistan. There are plenty of folks that want to change the status quo in the PPP party. The Pakistan Peoples Party has held together with bailing wire and rhetoric.

Stay tuned..this story is far from over.