Pakistan | MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Archive for the 'Pakistan' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

Help Fred Thompson get this ad on the air

Time out from Pakistan news: Fred Thompson needs your help NOW. This ad needs to run in Iowa, like, immediately–there’s only what, a week and a half left for Iowa? Do you think Mike Huckabee would be the best person to deal with Pakistan? How about Ron Paul? Nah, me either (to say the least). Let Iowans see there’s a consistent conservative they can vote for.

PLEASE, donate whatever you possibly can.

Here’s the ad:

McCain + “The Bitch” = Manufactured Outrage!

Okay, I finally saw “the” video where the woman asked, “how do we beat the bitch.” Talk about manufactured outrage. If you missed it, here it is.

Remember when John McCain made the “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran” joke? Remember his response to the manufactured outrage from the nutroots then? He said, “Get a life.” I think that this is yet again another good time to say “get a life” to the ridiculous hacks on the Left. They’re a joke.

To put it in the words of a leftist hero, “Screw ‘em.” I plan on referring to Hillary as “the bitch” now just to jerk their chains, since they’re so full of feigned heartache about it. This is possibly the world’s silliest “issue” ever.

I mentioned earlier that I listened in on a McCain bloggers call earlier today, and as you might expect, someone asked a question about it. I don’t remember his exact words, but the essence of it was that some people need to lighten up. He actually said he knows Hillary well and doesn’t think of her as “a bitch”–in saying that it was a good question, obviously he was referring to the question of beating Hillary. All I can say is that if a word uttered by a supporter is going to be held against a candidate, then no candidate is above reproach–especially those supported by the nutroots. Liberals are a freaking joke.

Now, about that conference call. I didn’t ask any questions, but I didn’t need to. (Again, here’s Jim Geraghty’s recap.) What stood out for me was what he had to say about foreign policy and the ilitary, particularly with regard to Pakistan. McCain said exactly what *I* would want a President to say. That is, he wants the democratic process to move forward, but emphatically noted that elections in themselves are not always going to give the desired outcome. In particular, he mentioned what few others have the moral courage to say: that Benazir Bhutto is not necessarily the best option either. It must be remembered that the Bhutto administration was obscenely corrupt and Pakistanis weren’t happy with her, either. The stakes are unbelievably high with Pakistan having nukes and a large violent Islamist population, so while McCain is absolutely for Pakistan having a healthy democratic process, he noted that “elections do not always mean democracies.” I think the rest of the region pretty much proves that as fact.

He also discussed Iran and the nuclear situation there, saying that he supports sanctions and believes sanctions could have an effect on Iranian policy. McCain also wants to increase funding (recently cut by the State Department) to the pro-democracy forces in Iran. (I didn’t even know State had made the cuts. Color me unsurprised.)

Like I said, Geraghty has the wrap-up, and I’m glad I did call in–it was a sort of spur of the moment thing, and I was very comfortable with what he had to say and quite impressed. You know, we always hear the candidates in debates and speeches, and this was different. I’ve always thought John McCain came across well in the debates, but this was better. I’m going to see about getting in on all the candidates’ blogger calls who have them (except for you know who–there’s no point) from now on so I can hear them out in that venue as well.

One last thing, so I can gloat about something I knew I was right about at the time (heehee). He mentioned the Gang of 14 deal, and said people still are mad at him about it but he knows it was the right decision. So do I. Can you imagine having the nuclear option available to the Democrats now, especially with The Bitch™ Hillary looming on the horizon? Notably, McCain said that he doesn’t think a single GOP senator would support the nuclear option now–and that’s what “the Coalition of the Chilling” was saying all along. (Sorry, I can’t resist–I TOLD YOU SO!) :twisted:

So some of you are asking, why am I shilling for John McCain now, right? Put it this way: I am not going to attack any of the Republican candidates; I don’t have reason to do so. I am comfortable with any of them, and will have no problem voting for any of the current candidates should they be the nominee (except, of course, for RP, but I don’t think I need to really even say that–you all know). There are enough people on our side mimicing the nutroots and Paultards right now, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to do it. I can argue honestly for voting for any of them, some more than others, and frankly, I think it would be a travesty if McCain were to not have a good shot at the nomination. Yes, I’ve warmed considerably to him in the last several months, and the order of my preferred candidates changes at least every month or so, so I’m giving all of them a much more serious, in-depth look. I’d encourage y’all to do the same, even for those you think you could never support. (And yes, I have even given RP a very close look, possibly even more than the others in order to understand the online phenomenon. I’m even more strongly anti-RP the more I learn.) Go look around for yourselves.

UPDATE: Well, that didn’t take long. Heeee.

The Religion of Peace™ has a content warning!

Another Day Goes By:

A music video with pictures from the worldwide islamofascist uprising. It is not meant to insult Islam, but to show the horror of people using a religion as excuse for their sick death cult. If you are a muslim and feel insulted, please answer this question: What have you done today to stop terror? (BTW: The music was recorded by a guy from Australia, who wants to remain anonymous. He is afraid of the Religion of Peace.)

Content warning: Graphic violence. Not like you didn’t already know.

Pakistan Watch

Troubles continue in Pakistan, and Pajamas Media has a roundup of articles on it as protestors battle police in the streets:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Police fired tear gas and battered thousands of lawyers protesting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s decision to impose emergency rule, as Western allies threatened to review aid to the troubled Muslim nation. More than 1,500 people have been arrested in 48 hours, and authorities put a stranglehold on independent media.

Meanwhile, the US urges a move toward democracy.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its assistance to Pakistan, which has received billions in aid since Musharraf threw his support behind the U.S.-led war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

At a news conference in the West Bank on Monday, Rice urged Musharraf to follow through on past promises to “take off his uniform.”

“I want to be very clear,” she said, as a team of U.S. defense officials postponed plans to travel to Islamabad for talks Tuesday because of the crisis. “We believe that the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections.”

But there’s more at play here than just Musharraf versus Bhutto and the people for democracy, of course. This is Pakistan, after all. I can’t help but wonder how this might be benefiting the radical Islamists and providing an “in” for them as the secular elements divide. Stanley Kurtz notes that the media has “tended to underplay, or even openly challenge, the jihadist angle” in “Al-Qaedastan,” and considers the very real possibility of civil war, and says maybe Musharraf was right in declaring a state of emergency:

Pakistan’s government has never faced armed, independent, organized, and territorially based Islamist opposition on today’s scale. That is likely to give Pakistan’s recurring political history a radical new twist. In calmer circumstances, a stable democracy guided by a secular middle-class might have headed off the specter of Islamist radicalism. Today, however, given the size and strength of the Islamist threat, and given the unique social role of Pakistan’s army, a military government may be the only real bulwark against the potential disaster of a nuclear-armed al-Qaedastan.

It would have been better if the power-sharing deal between Musharraf and Bhutto had held. If such a deal can still be rescued and genuinely made to work, that would certainly be welcome. Yet contrary to the claim that terrorism was just an excuse, I fear that Musharraf’s invocation of the state’s critical vulnerability was all too valid.

You know what they say–”he may be a dictator, but he’s our dictator.”

Obviously, a western-style democracy would be nice, but realistically, elections alone do not mean things will end up to our liking. Just look at Gaza. Or Turkey. Or yes, Iraq. And you know that tired old refrain, “Hitler was elected, too.”

Nevertheless, Musharraf’s government has just announced that parliamentary elections will still be held in January as planned:

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz announced Monday that parliamentary elections will be held in January, as scheduled.

Aziz’s comments followed a call Monday by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for Pakistan to restore normal democratic and constitutional processes, and to confirm the January elections.

Reuters, meanwhile, reported that President Bush called on Musharraf to quickly return to civilian rule and release people detained under an emergency decree.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the U.S. was “deeply disturbed” by Musharraf’s emergency rule decree.

Reuters also reported that Pakistan’s National Assembly would be dissolved by Nov. 15 to make way for January elections.

Aziz, meanwhile, told reporters that Musharraf is “committed to making sure that elections are held and that the democratic process flourishes in Pakistan.

“As a result of what has happened there could be some timing differences but no decision has been made,” he said.

Ahem. Emphasis mine. “Some timing differences,” I’d guess, would leave the door open to “whenever we think it’s safe.” And honestly, I’m not sure I find that as disturbing as some others may say they do. (Frankly, I’m seeing a lot of demagoguery from self-centered pundits looking to score points against Bush, as though he’s somehow to blame for this–just as they blame him for everything else. Get over yourselves.)

Meanwhile Benazir Bhutto reacts to Musharraf’s crackdown:

The Pakistan People’s Party chief, who returned to her country last month from an eight-year self-exile under a power sharing deal with the General, warned that “subversion of democracy” could fuel further extremism.

Bhutto said the political parties will meet to share views and come up with a “consensus plan of action”.

“….certainly demonstrations will be under unless General Musharraf moves quickly to defuse the situation and restore the constitution,” she said.

“…it would be dangerous but the dangers of not doing anything are far greater. We either acquiesce to the spread of extremism and terrorism in our country. And if we don’t acquiesce then we are termed controversial and polarizing.

“But we feel that we cannot accept and acquiesce to the rise of militancy and extremism in our country, which threaten our people’s lives and so although there are risks, we have to take those risks,” Bhutto maintained.

Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s former prime minister, faces some hard decisions now that President Pervez Musharraf has assumed sweeping emergency powers.

She must decide whether to continue to seek a power-sharing deal with General Musharraf or to make a clean break from him. For the time being, she is hedging her bets.

While she has condemned the declaration of emergency rule, she has not called her supporters from the Pakistan People’s party (PPP) on to the streets - a move that would dramatically raise the stakes.

It’s not going to be easy for Pervez Musharraf to keep things from exploding without the support of Bhutto; the PPP and Musharraf need to be united to fight the Islamic extremists. If Benazir Bhutto is serious about ridding Pakistan of extremism, she would be wise (and it would only be to her long-term benefit) to not disrupt things further, even if the emergency rule holds for a while. There has already been an attempt on her life by the jihadists, and if they were to take power, she can forget about seeing “power-sharing agreements” or democracy of any kind in Pakistan.

UPDATE: Everything said more succinctly:

The State Department response — calling for immediate free elections — is idiotic. Break down Pakistan’s instability into just some of its component parts — Islamist militancy, tribal unrest, deep-seated ethnic separatism, feudal oppression, sectarian hatred, an incompetent and corrupt ruling elite, an ill-educated population, a paranoid and conspiratorial culture — and it’s far from clear that dictatorship is the disease or elections the cure.

It’s interesting that the official Indian reaction has been so careful. Said a Foreign Ministry spokesman: “We regret the difficult times that Pakistan is passing through…We trust that conditions of normalcy will soon return, permitting Pakistan’s transition to stability and democracy to continue.” New Delhi clearly realizes that Musharraf for all his faults may be preferable to any alternative. …