I'll bet Bush and Cheney are watching with envy as Musharraf clings to power in Pakistan

[bigtree]

I can't help but wonder if Bush and Cheney are thinking about manipulating a state of emergency in the U.S., like Musharraf in Pakistan has -- with an eye towards clinging to power -- claiming that the elected Democrats threaten our national security in their refusal to act on some trumped-up 'threat', like in Iran.

Nah. I'm still not there, but I'm pretty convinced the republican party is taking notes.


Pakistan May Delay National Election

VOA News
04 November 2007

Pakistan's government says a national election due in January may be rescheduled.

Minister of State for Information Tariq Azim Khan told reporters Sunday that there might be an adjustment in the dates of the election because of the imposition of emergency rule Saturday.

Pakistani police have been rounding up hundreds of opposition members including the acting president of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's party.

The detention of Javed Hashmi in the central city of Multan followed President Pervez Musharraf's suspension of Pakistan's constitution and removal of the nation's top judge.

Saturday troops entered the Supreme Court in Islamabad and took away the chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, whose suspension earlier this year triggered nationwide protests. The court had been scheduled to rule in a few days on the validity of General Musharraf's re-election as president last month by Parliament.

Those detained or held under house arrest include Imran Khan, the internationally known former cricketer who leads a small opposition party, and the attorney leading the legal challenge to General Musharraf's re-election.

Hours after security forces blocked off key streets around government buildings Saturday and imposed tough curbs on the media, General Musharraf appeared on national television to defend his decision.

He blamed rising violence from Islamic militants and a series of judicial decisions for demoralizing law enforcement officials, setting known terrorists free, and undermining his efforts to move the country toward democracy . . .


http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-04-voa3.cfm

[w8liftinglady]

1. Sadly,I thought the very same thing...

[bigtree]

2. I just added the report which got me thinking

"Pakistani police have been rounding up hundreds of opposition members including the acting president of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's party.

(Musharraf) blamed rising violence from Islamic militants and a series of judicial decisions for demoralizing law enforcement officials, setting known terrorists free, and undermining his efforts to move the country toward democracy."

[bdamomma]

18. they (Cheney and *)are probably taking notes is right.

[Junkdrawer]

3. I'll bet they're more involved than "watching with envy"....

They gave The Bomb to Musharraf. That LAST thing they want is for a legitimately elected government there to get that bomb.

[bigtree]

4. no doubt they have a hand in somewhere

I'm trying to imagine what kind of military force they might use to maintain their friend in power or thwart the election of someone they viewed as too 'extreme?" It would have to be completely covert or the backlash would be enormous.

[izzie]

5. I just bet this is why Iraq got a little calm. We know where all these nuts

went when they saw more US army people. Pakistan is better picking right now. Terrorist do not stand and fight but are underground sorts of fighters. Just look how they did it in Ireland and Russia. Some of these guys wait their whole life to do what they want. Just look at Lenin. He was deep into this terrorist thing before the last Czar when his brother was hung for being a bomber and terrorists. What 30 years? If it gets to hot they just go to ground in another place. Bush will just use it to get another GOP in the WH. Or so I think.

[bigtree]

16. "Pakistan is better picking right now."

interesting take

[izzie]

17. For blowing up things and trying to take over things

I would say that country is up for some real hard times right now. I think the Middle East is going to act like this for ages. No country will be really safe. Bush got into the ant pile and really started things going.

[ima_sinnic]

6. I was thinking the exact same thing. He "decries" it or whatever, but

is watching to see what he can learn and how it works out for them. After all, he did sign some executive order or something giving him full power in case of emergency, however he defines "emergency."

[bigtree]

8. Directive 51

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html

****ed up provisions:


(b) "Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions

(6) The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government. (Judicial, Legislative . . .)

(e) "Enduring Constitutional Government," or "ECG," means a cooperative effort among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government, coordinated by the President, as a matter of comity (where has Bush demonstrated 'comity'?) with respect to the legislative and judicial branches and with proper respect for the constitutional separation of powers among the branches, to preserve the constitutional framework under which the Nation is governed and the capability of all three branches of government to execute constitutional responsibilities and provide for orderly succession, appropriate transition of leadership, and interoperability and support of the National Essential Functions during a catastrophic emergency;


good analysis here: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/02/1623/

[madokie]

7. not only are they watching with envy they are taking notes too

that I would bet on. they are both calculating cold hearted madmen

[lonestarnot]

9. They can calculate all they want but this will be one action that will not be taken while lying down

And you can count on that!

[bigtree]

10. They could leverage a refusal to relinquish power to any mass protest

and use that rebellion as justification to close ranks and stand firm . . .

Maybe I'm drinking too much coffee . . . :tinfoilhat:

[lonestarnot]

12. How they gona do that? In a revolution, doesn't both sides have a leader?

[bigtree]

14. who has control over the military, the police?

Don't count on your elected leaders in Congress. Power primarily protects and defends power. It would have to be an internal revolt for it to really succeed in stifling the power grab. This Congress we have now isn't exactly the take charge type, though . . .

[lonestarnot]

15. You can type that again!

[bdamomma]

19. no one will stand for it in this country, no one.

[KharmaTrain]

11. This Is Their Nightmare

Think about it for a second. Musharaf is their boy...they bought and paid for him and he's being rejected. He's a dead man walking and this is yet another mess this regime will soon have to juggle (and surely fuck-up).

The ultimate power in Pakistan is the military. Musharaf stays in power as long as the top generals say he stays...any "democracy" is tolerated to a limited extent. When a leader stirs up as much shit as Musharaf has within the country, the military will have the ultimate say here...as they have in the past, and the results may not be to anyone's liking.

The fundamentalists are the ones behind a lot of the constitutional problems Musharaf has had...thus his sealing the Supreme Court and he's got Bhutto on the other hand rallying pro-democracy forces (people he was hoping to placate). This mess is backfiring and could open the door to a new general "restoring order" who won't be as cozy to boooshie and cheney as Musharaf was. Not only is there the northwestern areas that remain outside Federal control (where Bin Laden is hiding), there's the ongoing friction with India that could erupt into a war in the Kashmir. This is too much for this regime to get its head around.

[bigtree]

13. yeah, there's that

But I don't believe this administration is really concerned with the effects of political unrest and power transfers in Pakistan beyond what those changes might mean to themselves politically; or what they might mean to their regional benefactors -- like the Saudis working with Pakistan in their pursuit of nuclear technology, to the concern noted by you from India)

I wish they had a grip on the implications of their positions, but you see how they posture . . . They'll likely bend any result around whatever suits their craven focus and determination to hold on to every inch of control they can manage -- even if that means accepting some other dictator or autocrat who might emerge, as long as that individual postures ever so slightly toward the U.S.. I don't think Musharraf was really anyone's cup of tea in the U.S.; just the best choice available, considering the options. And this administration just doesn't know how to say they were wrong.