Lately President General Musharraf’s actions portray a somewhat different stance. Has the US cold shoulder on the Indo-Pak trip got something to do with it?
Whether it’s mere lip service to keep critics silent is not known. However General Musharraf has been playing rather bold and had Sheikh Rashid issue the statements that he might stay in uniform and stay on as president beyond 2007 and that’s something time and situations will decide. This came the very next day after Boucher repeated the cliche. http://www.dawn.com/2006/04/09/top13.htm
And then at the Seerat-un-Nabi conefernce to mark Eid Milad he talked about how strong and invincible and powerful Muslim nations could be if they unite. And he talked of the difference between modernism and westernization, and spoke of Muslim culture and identity and its conservation and implementation. http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\04\13\story_13-4-2006_pg7_49
Haris, I haven't read all the articles you have linked in your post. But I think Musharraf can not stay in uniform forever. The sooner he realizes this, the better it is. Next election could afford him a good opportunity to discard his uniform. I like Musharraf as a leader. But he should end his military career as soon as possible. The governing political parties should also be careful while supporting Musharraf. Supporting him as a leader is okay, but supporting him as a military ruler for indefinite period is not good.
I have yet to see any clear evidence of a policy change. There might be some clever use of words to appease some segments of the society. Next year is elcetion year. Everyone is busy.
Haris, Anyone can read between lines and come up with their side's tilt.
US will always say they prefer democratic government. However what they do not say is that they will work with non-democratic framework if it suites their objectives. Still it becomes harder for any White House administration to give funds and get other "goodies" for the non-democratic friends.
It is in the best interest of Pakistan to have a figure head politician at the top while military rules from the background. 8th amendment was a good thing. However NS ended up closing that option.
Our politicians and academia are little too leftie commie for their own good. Mix them with Islaom-fascist Qazis and you got a real dangerous mix. In order to keep in check, there has to be another institution. It is a good thing we have army. Otherwise, these politikos would be inviting Bharat, Iran, and Saudi Arabia to rule our @rses.
Don't go too far. Let's see what Afghani politikos have achieved. Since they had no strong military, the result has been invasions for the past 30+ years. Even now as we speak, 25K+ foreign soldiers are keeping the beardos and commies of Kabul in check.
US will work with us as long as there is a need. Having a civilian face makes things easy. I wish we could have that civilian face. So far I don't see none.
Last night there was talk show on a Pakistani channel about the situation in the region around Pakistan, it was an interesting show. The common held view was ........that if you take a step back and look at the region, you will realize that in the near future Pakistan is going to make very tough decisions, almost parallel to the 9/11 decisions. Any inclination that Pakistan will be making a decision non-concurrent to the existing Pakistani stance can result in a security chaos in Pakistan. One can see the signs of these security threats at a small level, but as the time to make a decision comes near and near, the security situation would be made critical, just to assert enough pressure on the current administration to reamin in-line with its current policy.
One can easily see that the current administration is in no position to shift its stance, the risks are too high for them.
Well i don't like Musharraf keeping two posts at a time either but i don't blame him for staying in uniform. I don't think he is doing that because he is greedy or something, what's the guarantee than the next military leader will not interefere with Musharraf's policies and other government issues???????
He has started a process and he wants to make sure that things go smoothly, he found one good person in Shaukat Aziz who is not like other corrupt politcians, he is experienced, educated and he was rightly appointed PM.