Nawaz Sharif, ex-prime minister of Pakistan is now free to return and contest elections in Pakistan. He is a direct opponent to President Musharraf, and his supporters are the Islamists in JI and IJT who form the base of the Taliban, and their only slightly less agressive political wing. He is the candidate that the MMA is likely to back as well.
Under Nawaz Sharif Pakistan became a nuclear power, and the black market in nuclear components with North Korea and Iran started. Under Sharif, the Taliban were trained by the Pakistan ISI, supplied, fed, and armed by the government.
Under Nawaz, the repressive, inhumane laws based on Islamic Hadith put in place by Zia ul Haq continued. These called for stoning for adultery, amputation for theft, and imprisonment or death for offending a muslim over religion. (These laws were the basis of the protests against Salman Rushdie, the mohammed cartoons, and other things.) Under Nawaz the Ahmadi sect was declared non-Muslim and persecuted. Although Ahmadis from other countries practice the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, the Pakistani Ahmadis cannot because they are not allowed to state they are muslim in their passports.
Lastly, until the coup created by Musharraf, Nawaz was well on his way to becoming dictator for life in Pakistan by changing the constitution in ways that made it impossible for him to be removed as Prime Minister. (In Pakistan except in times of crisis and war, the Prime Minister holds most power within the country – the President in times of peace becomes a figurehead, carrying out only foreign policy)
If Nawaz wins in the election we would likely see a distancing from the US, more opposition to Israel, the Hamid Gul faction back in charge of the Taliban, and increased fighting against India. The nuclear policies of Pakistan would also likely change, and who knows who they would start selling technology to?
Here’s a quote from Hamid Gul after 9/11:
“Mossad and its accomplices [are the 9/11 culprits]. The U.S. spends $40 billion a year on its 11 intelligence agencies. That’s $400 billion in 10 years. Yet the Bush Administration says it was taken by surprise. I don’t believe it. Within 10 minutes of the second twin tower being hit in the World Trade Center CNN said Osama bin Laden had done it. That was a planned piece of disinformation by the real perpetrators.” (UPI United Press International, Sep. 26, 2001)
Yes, that’s right, Hamid Gul was the original “9/11 Truther” and people who are spouting that bull in America are actually following an Agit-prop campaign run the the head of an Islamist nation’s secret intelligence agency. The same folks who created the Taliban inspired the truthers.
UPDATE: You will find the comments section at Metroblogging Islamad very educational on this matter, as you will see the varying points of view within Pakistan on the matter.
I don’t get it. Is Musharaff just rolling over in Pakistan and giving up Leadership of his country? I mean, did that assasination attempt basically convince him he’d better spend the rest of his years on an island off of Guinea?
If that’s the case, then why doesn’t he just up and resign today so we can start the bombing in the NW tomorrow.
It’s not Musharraf that ruled in favor of this, it’s the Supreme Court Pakistan, under CJ Chaudry Iftikhar. I think Musharraf has always been in favor of the rule of law, but sometimes emergencies have outweighed it. There are paralells with Bush here. So by all opponents Musharraf is shown in worst light, over time that wears anyone’s popularity down. In the end, he’s not a dictator, and so has to go with this agreement.
If there were mass unrest through the country then he reasonably could declare emergency and be supported. Right now he wouldn’t be.
If we start bombing NWFP at this time under these conditions then you are talking a very long, extended war in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I don’t recommend that.
Thanos, you certainly know a heckuva lot more than me, but this is what bothers me in this whole matter.
It is taking every , EVERY single vote from every possible Republican (and conservative Democrat) right now to keep the U.S. military fighting in Iraq. If one, two or more votes are lost, the result will be catastrophic and we’ll be withdrawing. It is my contention that within nine months of any withdrawl start in Iraq, the new offensive of the Left will be a withdrawl from Afghanistan. And if the U.S. withdraws from the Coalition/NATO force in Afghanistan, that effort is history.
At that point, I would give the Afghans six months before the Taliban retake power and it’s my view, that Pakistan will fall soon after that takes place. It’s a domino effect.
So, you may be correct that a bombing/offensive in the NWFP might not be ideal but what would you call the alternative? What do we call what we have in the NWFP when it covers the whole country of Pakistan?
One final point, it’s my other view that with the NWFP left the way it is, the Afghan conflict will last 100 years. You simply can never truly defeat an enemy when you leave them an exit door.
The Afghan conflict has lasted 2,000 years. The foreign players change periodically but the locals are always fighting. Don’t know if there’s a way to change that one.
Winning is more a question of how perfect we want things to be. I don’t think the Taliban have a shot at retaking anything without support from a nation. Right now they don’t have that — if we bomb NWFP they get support from multiple nations. I think we need to keep going the way we are. Let the tribals sort themselves out in NWFP, they will over time.