~Musharraf, Bhutto, & Asif Ali Zardari~ Pakistan: “The nation created for British India’s Muslims six decades ago”
Musharraf was loyal to US even when it went against Pakistan’s national interests. It is only when General Musharraf buckled under US pressure and sent troops into Waziristan in late 2003-early 2004 that Pakistan became a war zone. Three years of the Pakistan army following the same senseless tactics as used by the US/NATO forces in Afghanistan (aerial bombardment) plus the slaughter at Lal Masjid, for the creation of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Bush claimed that Musharraf was an indispensable ally in his “war against terror,” and that money sent to Pakistan supports that goal. Most Pakistanis see the [Taliban] as America ‘s enemy, not their own. The Taliban is perceived as the only group standing up against the unwelcome American presence in the region. (For more than 25 years, the US army has nurtured Islamist radicals as proxy warriors for covert operations on Pakistan ‘s borders in Kashmir and Afghanistan .”)
Musharraf declared a state of emergency on November 3rd, 2007 after the Pakistani Supreme Court indicated it would overturn the results of an illegitimate election that would have extended Musharraf’s term as president. His declaration of emergency attacked all of Pakistan by suspending fundamental constitutional rights to life and liberty, freedom of speech, assembly and association, and equal protection of the law. The real motivation for Musharraf’s declared emergency is to maintain his presidency.
Bhutto seen this turmoil as her chance to return, and she thought her Washington allies arranged it. It didn’t matter that she was being used – to be a democratic face and fig leaf adjunct to Musharraf’s dictatorship, but whatever was then clearly changed by December 27. She was murdered, and Musharraf nominally transferred his army chief post to close ally General Ashfaq Kayani last November. He also lifted a six week long state of emergency in mid-December ahead of the scheduled January 8 elections, then postponed after Bhutto’s assassination.
General elections were held on 18 February 2008, in which the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) polled the highest votes and won the most seats.
On 7 August 2008, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) agreed to force Musharraf to step down and begin his impeachment.
On 18 August 2008, Musharraf resigned. On 19 August, he defended his nine-year rule in an hour-long speech.(Line of succession to the President of Pakistan)
Asif Ali Zardari is the 11th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). He is also the widower of Benazir Bhutto. Asif Ali Zardari did everything he could to prevent himself from being returned to obscurity and became the new President of Pakistan.
There was no joy in the streets to mark the transference of power from a corrupt general to a vulture politician. If Benazir were still alive, Zardari would not have been given any official post. She had been considering two other senior politicians for the Presidency. Had she been more democratically inclined she would never have treated her political party so scornfully, reducing it to the status of a family heirloom, bequeathed to her son, with her husband as the regent till the boy came of age. This, and this alone, has aided Zardari’s rise to the top.
The majority of the population is deeply hostile to the US/NATO presence in Afghanistan. Almost 80 per cent favor a negotiated settlement and withdrawal of all foreign troops. Zardari is being tested, if he permits US troops to carry on their ‘search-and-destroy’ missions and drone attacks targeting innocents, his career will be short-lived, and the military will return in some shape or form. The High Command cannot afford to ignore the growing anger within its junior ranks at being forced to kill their own people.
The President of Pakistan was designed in the 1972 Constitution as an ornamental figure. Military dictators subverted and altered the constitution to their advantage. The country desperately needs a president capable of exercising some moral authority and serving as the conscience of the country. The banished Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry comes to mind, as do the figures of Imran Khan and I.A. Rehman (the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission), but the governing elite and its self-serving backers in Washington have always been blind to the real needs of this country. They should be careful. The sparks flying across the Afghan border might ignite a fire that is difficult to control.
Recommended Reads :
Paradigm Shift In Asia: Pakistan, Russia Consolidate Ties
How to Clear this Mess ~ Imran Khan ~
Carina D 4/21/2012
references:
Using Benazir Bhutto for Imperial Gain: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7791
How to Clear the Mess:http://pkpolitics.com/2009/04/23/how-to-clear-the-mess/
Pakistan: Clash between Musharraf and Bhutto a “farce”, says Bhutto niece by Marco Liconti: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7461
Musharraf Plays Bush for a Fool: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7378
Zardari and Pakistan The Godfather as President by Tariq Ali: http://www.counterpunch.org/2008/09/08/the-godfather-as-president/
Universal Human Rights Index
Piazza della Carina 
Accurate description of events.Just like I know! There are many ways to lose the independence of a state.
thank you, is micro version of events, i could write novel on Pakistan. i think what i will do is create a blogroll post with timeline for people who want deeper background. You know with the way the people are isolated there and also in Afghanistan, they don’t even realize what is happening, they are just being attacked is what they see. The governments do not by any means serve the needs of the people. This last puppet Asif Ali Zardari is doing balancing act on thin ice between his people and empire.
wonder what the judge decided in drone murder case on 17th, is quiet.