How George Bush and Condoleezza Rice made a mess of Pakistan.
By Fred Kaplan on Slate
Now we've really got problems.
The state of emergency in Pakistan signals yet another low point in President George W. Bush's foreign policy — a stark demonstration of his paltry influence and his bankrupt principles. More than that, the crackdown locks us in a crisis — a potentially dangerous dynamic—from which there appears to be no escape route.
For much of last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top U.S. officials had been urging Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, not to declare martial law. He not only ignored these pleas; he defied them.
More here.
Lawyers Against Musharraf
Why are attorneys taking to the streets in Pakistan?
By Michelle Tsai also on Slate
Lawyers demonstrating in their black suits and ties clashed with police in Pakistan on Monday, two days after Pervez Musharraf declared martial law. In Lahore, about 2,000 lawyers gathered at the high court, even as some news outlets reported 1,500 arrests of lawyers across the country. Why are attorneys leading this round of protests?
Because they want to, and they can. When Musharraf came to power in 1999, he effectively paralyzed the two major political parties that opposed him. The leaders of those groups, Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan People's Party and Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistani Muslim League, went into exile. Other political figures were arrested, and public rallies were generally not permitted. (The gathering of hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis to greet Bhutto's return in October was a rare exception.) Thus weakened, the parties couldn't lead a mass response to Musharraf's takeover. Lawyers, on the other hand, could circumvent some of the general's restrictions. Since they still had to go to court, lawyers were able to use the courts as public meeting places. They also couldn't be easily targeted as a group, since bar associations carry out necessary functions for the government, like ensuring that local political campaigns follow the rules and authenticating applicants for a national ID card. This appears to have changed, however; one eyewitness said the police were now arresting "anyone wearing the lawyer's uniform."
More here.
My comment: I hope you're paying attention. Pakistan is a real nuclear power with real, test-proven nuclear weapons (as opposed to the trumped up allegations about Iran). Bin Laden lives there and the tibal border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan are controlled by al Qauda and the Taliban. If Pakistan falls apart at the seams, it's very likely that we'll be confronting a nuclear jihad.
We should have been tracking down bin Laden all this time instead of playing wack-a-mole in Iraq. We were off to a good start, but we got distracted. Now we're not very well positioned to do anything about the changes.
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