BBC NEWS | South Asia | Bhutto issues Pakistan ultimatum — There is something close to a Civil war going on in Pakistan that is poorly covered in the US media.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has issued what correspondents say is an ultimatum to President Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule.
She repeated plans for a rally on Friday, despite an official ban, and called for a “long march” next week unless Gen Musharraf changed course.
She insisted that he restore the constitution, hold elections and resign as head of the army.
Gen Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Saturday after months of unrest.
The authorities have warned that police will not allow Fridays demonstration in Rawalpindi, the countrys main garrison town, to go ahead.
The citys mayor, Javed Akhlas, said: “We will ensure that they dont violate the ban on rallies, and if they do it, the government will take action according to the law.”
He told the Associated Press there was a “strong threat” of another suicide bomb attack against Ms Bhutto, who survived an assassination attempt in Karachi on 18 October that killed more than 140 people.
Killing off the democratic reformer supporters of Bhutto will only increase the Islamists strengths. While he has the rule, instead of going after the ralliers, how about using his nukes on the parts near the Afghan border in the north?
#1 MikeN
Nukes are kind of indiscriminate and would kill tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children. Is that your plan? Kill as many innocents as possible to get at a few terrorists?
Hey, you could end up being president of the U.S. You should get into the race right now!
…in Rawalpindi, the country’s main garrison town,…
That being the main garrison town implies there are other “garrison towns” , doesn’t it?
What exactly are “garrison towns”, anyway?
…the government will take action according to the law.
Well, at least whatever laws they haven’t suspended for this “emergency”.
Nice to see them giving lip-service to The Rule of Law. å:(
Watch carefully and learn.
“God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …
And what country can preserve its liberties, if it’s rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure.”
Thomas Jefferson – November 13, 1787
Remind politicians that they work for us, not the other way around. Use force if necessary. A reminder is waaaay overdue in the USA, specially when the President sees himself as king.
“Every generation needs a new revolution.”
Thomas Jefferson
Cinaedh, focus on instead. If the alternative is for their nukes to fall into the hands of Islamic terrorists, yes I think it would be better for him to use them against the Al-Qaeda Taliban supporters, even if it does kill many innocents. It’s a war crime yes, but that’s why you have dictators.
#2 Their nukes are rather small and the target area is not very densely populated. If we new where OBL was a nuke could probably take him out with lower collateral damage than we suffered on 9/11.
Meanwhile in other news today:
“The $606 billion House-Senate compromise measure passed the Senate after Republicans used procedural tactics to remove $65 billion for veterans’ programs and military base construction.”
Support our troops… at least now we hear the truth once in a while.
Well if this war is just like Vietnam, then I guess returning troops can expect to be spit on.
I would like to see where the money trail from Bhutto leads to. I would bet quite a bit of money that it leads to Iran and her Persian brothers.
One thing Iran doesn’t want is for Pakistan and India to become friends (which was happening slowly — boths sides may be hotheads but they sure didn’t want to die a radioactive death). Iran would be isolated as the only country without an ally and they couldn’t stand for that to happen — so activate the Bhutto Card.
Am I supporting Musharraf? Partially. If he had been allowed to continue his work with India before Bhutto showed up, we might have been praising Musharraf 10 years from now as a man of peace and vision.
Should he step down now? It doesn’t look like he is going to have a choice unless he can prove an Iranian connection — which will never see the light of day — if it exists.
#9. spat on AND swift-boated …
I really hate to think so, but what if Pat Buchanan is correct? If Bhutto and other Democratic moderates are helped by the right wing Islamists to overthrow Musharraf, they won’t stand a chance when the mullahs get a democratically elected theocracy in place. The end result of the American middle east policy of late, a nuclear armed country run by religious fruitcakes. I’ll bet India’s military is doing warhead prep right now, just in case. Looks like the 21st century could really be off to a bang-up start.
the term civil war is just a politically correct way of saying “ethnic cleansing”
#6 and #7
This time the other side has nukes, too. Who knows if they can deliver them to your very own city?
I sure hope they don’t have the exact same attitudes and thought processes (or lack thereof) as you guys!
BOOM!