Angry Pakistanis Turn Against [Pakistan] Army
By Christina Lamb
Islamabad, Pakistan (The Sunday Times) - It is the most expensive -and talked about - property development in Pakistan, but few can get near it. Hidden behind barbed wire, the new state-of-the-art[Pakistan] Army headquarter to replace a garrison in Rawalpindi is costing a reputed 1 billion UK pounds and will cover 2,400 acres of prime land in Islamabad, including lakes, a residential complex, schools and clinics.
Originally intended to represent the best of Pakistan, the new Army HQ is now being seen as a symbol of all that is wrong with the country.
Amid nationwide anger over the killing of the Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and a widespread belief that the country's military or intelligence may have been involved, the population is turning against the Army for the first time.
From the wailing rice-pickers at Bhutto's grave in the dusty village of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in the southern province of Sindh to the western-educated elite sipping whisky and soda in the drawing rooms of Lahore, the message is the same: Pervez Musharraf, must go and the Army must return to its barracks.
Feelings are running so high that officers have been advised not to venture into the bazaar in uniform for fear of reprisals.
"The interests of the people of Pakistan are now totally at odds with those of the Army," said Asma Jahangir, the head of Pakistan's Human Rights Commission, who was one of hundreds of lawyers placed under house arrest in November.
"If a civilian President had done what Musharraf has done, he would have been dragged by his hair to the sea."
It is not just civilians who argue that, if the country is to stay together, power must go back into the hands of the politicians, however corrupt or inept.
Asad Durrani, a retired General, headed the notorious Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) bureau during the 1990 elections when, he admits, it spent millions of dollars to prevent Bhutto being voted back into power. Now he believes the Army should step back.
"If you are in charge for such a long time, you can't blame anyone else for the state of the country," he said. "You have to take responsibility for the situation."
"We are all trying to get across the message [to Musharraf] that 'you are the problem'," said another retired General. "I am hearing the same from serving generals."
For decades children in Pakistan have grown up on text-books glorifying the Pakistani Army and glossing over its defeat in three wars and loss of half the country in 1971 (to become Bangladesh). When Army chiefs have seized power they have generally been welcomed. But none of Pakistan's military rulers have stepped down voluntarily and Musharraf, it seems, is no different, picking an unpopular fight with the country's judiciary when they tried to take him on.
Elections scheduled for last week were delayed after Bhutto's assassination. The new date is February 18 [2008], but there is scepticism about whether they will go ahead. A bomb that killed 22 in Lahore last week was seen as another step in creating a climate of insecurity that makes voting impossible.
Even if they do go ahead, the elections are widely expected to be rigged in favour of Musharraf's allies [PML-Q and MQM]. Last Wednesday the head of the European Union observer mission visited the [dictator] with a list of 10 concerns about a lack of transparency.
Bhutto's death has left her one-time rival [Muhammad] Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League [PML-N], as the main Opposition figure. Although he emerged on the political scene in the 1980s under the patronage of Pakistan's last military ruler, General [Muhammad]Zia ul Haq, he now insists the Army must stop interfering in politics."The only way to move forward is for people to defy the Army and to realise that these generals who keep staging coups are our real enemies," he told The Sunday Times in an interview at his heavily guarded farmhouse outside Lahore.
"It is not the job of generals to hold the Prime Minister, Cabinet or Parliament accountable," he added. "They are accountable to the people. The Army has to go back to barracks or we will never have a functioning state."
Resentment against the men in khaki is particularly acute in Bhutto's home province of Sindh. To Sindhis, she was killed not because of her stand for democracy and against terrorism but because of where she came from. After her death many Sindhis went on the rampage, burning lorries, trains and banks.
They have been reined in by Bhutto's husband, Asif [Ali] Zardari, who has taken over running her Pakistan People's Party [PPP]. But he warns: "If elections are rigged or don't go ahead, this may be impossible to contain."
Those close to Musharraf say he still believes he is the only person able to sort out Pakistan, even though under his rule bombs have become an almost daily occurrence.
"The problem is that 9/11 went to his head," said Durrani. "After that I found him a changed man. He went from being a pariah to applause, saviour of Pakistan and the West."
Washington and London are clinging to Musharraf for want of other options and the [false] belief that he represents the best hope of preventing Pakistan's 50 or so nuclear warheads falling into militant hands. The West had hoped that Bhutto would be brought in as Prime Minister to provide his regime with a democratic face, but are now working on co-opting Sharif or Zardari.
Sharif, who has received three calls from David Miliband, the [UK] Foreign Secretary, since Bhutto's assassination, was the PrimeMinister ousted by Musharraf in [October] 1999. He insists that working with Musharraf is not an option.
Were free elections to go ahead and the Opposition parties to achieve a two-thirds majority, they would be in a position to impeach the[illegal] President. But few believe that, with Musharraf's hand-picked caretaker government overseeing the elections, this is a realistic possibility.
The only way he might go is if the Army were to decide he had outlived his purpose.
More than 700 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in the fight in the tribal areas against militants said to be linked to [fictitious] "Al-Qaeda", and officers admit that morale has not been so low since they lost Bangladesh in 1971.
"We are being asked to bomb our own people and shrug it off as collateral damage," said a Mirage pilot. "I call it killing women andchildren."
Hope rests on General Ashfaq [Parvez] Kayani who took command of the Army in late November [2007], when Musharraf succumbedto pressure to take off his [Army] uniform and become a civilian.
Little is known about Kayani apart from his love of golf and his professionalism as a soldier. He is said to be unhappy about the Army's involvement in politics and might pull back if elections proceed smoothly.
"Nobody is anyone's man once he becomes commander-in-chief with 700,000 soldiers under his command," says Imran Khan, the former cricketer turned politician.
Originally intended to represent the best of Pakistan, the new Army HQ is now being seen as a symbol of all that is wrong with the country.
Amid nationwide anger over the killing of the Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and a widespread belief that the country's military or intelligence may have been involved, the population is turning against the Army for the first time.
From the wailing rice-pickers at Bhutto's grave in the dusty village of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in the southern province of Sindh to the western-educated elite sipping whisky and soda in the drawing rooms of Lahore, the message is the same: Pervez Musharraf, must go and the Army must return to its barracks.
Feelings are running so high that officers have been advised not to venture into the bazaar in uniform for fear of reprisals.
"The interests of the people of Pakistan are now totally at odds with those of the Army," said Asma Jahangir, the head of Pakistan's Human Rights Commission, who was one of hundreds of lawyers placed under house arrest in November.
"If a civilian President had done what Musharraf has done, he would have been dragged by his hair to the sea."
It is not just civilians who argue that, if the country is to stay together, power must go back into the hands of the politicians, however corrupt or inept.
Asad Durrani, a retired General, headed the notorious Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) bureau during the 1990 elections when, he admits, it spent millions of dollars to prevent Bhutto being voted back into power. Now he believes the Army should step back.
"If you are in charge for such a long time, you can't blame anyone else for the state of the country," he said. "You have to take responsibility for the situation."
"We are all trying to get across the message [to Musharraf] that 'you are the problem'," said another retired General. "I am hearing the same from serving generals."
For decades children in Pakistan have grown up on text-books glorifying the Pakistani Army and glossing over its defeat in three wars and loss of half the country in 1971 (to become Bangladesh). When Army chiefs have seized power they have generally been welcomed. But none of Pakistan's military rulers have stepped down voluntarily and Musharraf, it seems, is no different, picking an unpopular fight with the country's judiciary when they tried to take him on.
Elections scheduled for last week were delayed after Bhutto's assassination. The new date is February 18 [2008], but there is scepticism about whether they will go ahead. A bomb that killed 22 in Lahore last week was seen as another step in creating a climate of insecurity that makes voting impossible.
Even if they do go ahead, the elections are widely expected to be rigged in favour of Musharraf's allies [PML-Q and MQM]. Last Wednesday the head of the European Union observer mission visited the [dictator] with a list of 10 concerns about a lack of transparency.
Bhutto's death has left her one-time rival [Muhammad] Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League [PML-N], as the main Opposition figure. Although he emerged on the political scene in the 1980s under the patronage of Pakistan's last military ruler, General [Muhammad]Zia ul Haq, he now insists the Army must stop interfering in politics."The only way to move forward is for people to defy the Army and to realise that these generals who keep staging coups are our real enemies," he told The Sunday Times in an interview at his heavily guarded farmhouse outside Lahore.
"It is not the job of generals to hold the Prime Minister, Cabinet or Parliament accountable," he added. "They are accountable to the people. The Army has to go back to barracks or we will never have a functioning state."
Resentment against the men in khaki is particularly acute in Bhutto's home province of Sindh. To Sindhis, she was killed not because of her stand for democracy and against terrorism but because of where she came from. After her death many Sindhis went on the rampage, burning lorries, trains and banks.
They have been reined in by Bhutto's husband, Asif [Ali] Zardari, who has taken over running her Pakistan People's Party [PPP]. But he warns: "If elections are rigged or don't go ahead, this may be impossible to contain."
Those close to Musharraf say he still believes he is the only person able to sort out Pakistan, even though under his rule bombs have become an almost daily occurrence.
"The problem is that 9/11 went to his head," said Durrani. "After that I found him a changed man. He went from being a pariah to applause, saviour of Pakistan and the West."
Washington and London are clinging to Musharraf for want of other options and the [false] belief that he represents the best hope of preventing Pakistan's 50 or so nuclear warheads falling into militant hands. The West had hoped that Bhutto would be brought in as Prime Minister to provide his regime with a democratic face, but are now working on co-opting Sharif or Zardari.
Sharif, who has received three calls from David Miliband, the [UK] Foreign Secretary, since Bhutto's assassination, was the PrimeMinister ousted by Musharraf in [October] 1999. He insists that working with Musharraf is not an option.
Were free elections to go ahead and the Opposition parties to achieve a two-thirds majority, they would be in a position to impeach the[illegal] President. But few believe that, with Musharraf's hand-picked caretaker government overseeing the elections, this is a realistic possibility.
The only way he might go is if the Army were to decide he had outlived his purpose.
More than 700 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in the fight in the tribal areas against militants said to be linked to [fictitious] "Al-Qaeda", and officers admit that morale has not been so low since they lost Bangladesh in 1971.
"We are being asked to bomb our own people and shrug it off as collateral damage," said a Mirage pilot. "I call it killing women andchildren."
Hope rests on General Ashfaq [Parvez] Kayani who took command of the Army in late November [2007], when Musharraf succumbedto pressure to take off his [Army] uniform and become a civilian.
Little is known about Kayani apart from his love of golf and his professionalism as a soldier. He is said to be unhappy about the Army's involvement in politics and might pull back if elections proceed smoothly.
"Nobody is anyone's man once he becomes commander-in-chief with 700,000 soldiers under his command," says Imran Khan, the former cricketer turned politician.
2 comments:
On 911 the yanks bastards aided by mossad killed 3000 of their own people, sent anthrax to the senators/congessmen they hated, and the side of pentagon where they lodged their opponents in the pentagon.
Zia was killed by CIA along with the American Ambassador to hide the mastermind.
Kennedy was killed by the yank elite bastards itself.
Lincoln was similarly killed by the yank bastards.
The real terrorism is the european and yank terror against their own.
The zionists conspired with hitler to kill their own jews. there is an extensive free book on the internet on this subject by Rabbi Moshe Weismandel.
Moshe Katsa, the Iranian zionist jew president of Israel himself led the rape of numerous jewish girls.
American Marines have on numerous occasions raped their own WASP women.
Reagon and Herbert Bush are pedophiles who molested white american innocent kids.
GWBush had a number of affairs with blonde white women.
DISPASSIONATE ANALYST
ON WHO KILLED BENAZIR ?
Taliban would not be motivated to kill Benazir.
Musharraf is their bigger enemy who assisted the americans against
them with tremendous logistical support.
Her brother was killed in Karachi by the MQM. They are the most callous, irreligious, and secular hardened killers, with no compassion just like Musharraf. For example, who killed the registrar of the supreme court, Hamid Raza execution style ?
They are bonded to Musharraf by the Mohajir blood.
Musharraf is a stooge of America. His ONLY son in there and so are his brothers. He trusts them. He is being tutored personally by Negroponte. CIA provides free consulting to him and Negroponte personally tutors him. Ponte went there to tutor Musharraf on how to handle the JUDICIARY in a machiavellian fashion, by inflicting a mortal disabling wound , and that is exactly what Mush did.
The zionists and hindu are quietly watching because Mush and MQM is doing their job and you maintain pin-drop silence when your enemy is destroying itself.
According to the brainy NEOCONS, from the Ashkenazi or KHAZAR tribe of Central Asia, the wise and learned authors of the protocols of the learned elders of zion, the loyal servants of the King and Banker Rothschild, one of whom Mikhail Khodorkovsky who looted the biggest of Russian oil and was nabbed like a rat by Honorable Vladimir Putin of Motherland Russia and the Fatherland, and also the master conspirators
of the Russian revolution and the establishment of the state of Israel (An Illustrious Resume of ACHIEVEMENTS):
This is the way to handle an islamic nuclear country by making it crumble from inside by putting a militant minority of biharis (who were the back-stabbers to their very neighbors and muslim brothers, the bengalis in 1971 on the basis of language and ethnicity) like the Kallu Mush, on top of the majority in the country. Being cornered, they will heartily and mightily fight and destroy each other with wanton and abandon.
Being cornered, they will heartily and mightily fight and destroy each other with wanton and abandon, AND MAKE NO MISTAKE, SRI-LANKA is a proven case of SAVAGE TAMIL HINDU TERROR trained by none other than the Israeli Mossad and the Indian RAW. Biharis are BECOMING temperamentally very much like that.
We must stop the transmogrification of the Biharis by reaching out to them by love and dialogue. Only that could work.
Musharraf and MQM believes that it is their historic opportunity
to setup a Mohajir Caliphate - forever.
The goal of CIA, Mossad, RAW is to create Tamil-Sinhalese
intensity and style hatred in Pakistan, and MQM is the perfect tool. We must guard against it and resuscitate a hero like Dr A.Q.Khan to serve as the bridge. It will kill many birds with one stone.
It will kill many birds with one stone.
It will kill many birds with one stone.
Musharraf and MQM dream has no feasibility, but their belief in it will indeed make the CIA/Mossad/RAW plan not only feasible but successful.
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http://www.nkusa.org
911blogger.com
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infowars.com
prisonplanet.org
countercurrents.org
counterpunch.org
I don't think we should even consider that Gen.Kayani, another army man,to even attempt to take pakistan out of this quagmire. Plz thank you very much Mr Kayani. Once he attempts a coup he'll be another ayub khan,yahya khan,zee-ul-haq,or p.mush,a collection of so many ex military men will undoubtedly be destructive for pakistan. Let us take pak out of the daldal ourselves by using our inner strength and our faith in Allah.
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