A Moment of Clarity on Pakistan Policy

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto may plunge Pakistan into much more serious chaos and violence. But the tragedy should at least be a clarifying moment for American policy toward Pakistan. It should make us more determined than ever to throw light on the shadowy policy of the Bush-Cheney administration of coddling the Pakistani military regime for so many years, despite the clear evidence that it was no friend of the United States.

Precisely who was responsibility for the assassination of Bhutto may never be known, but the circumstantial evidence points to Taliban extremists, assisted by a wink and a nod from elements in the Musharraf regime.

Bhutto had been the object of an assassination attempt in Karachi two months ago under circumstances that raised suspicions of official complicity. The street lights had suddenly failed to work, making the would-be assassin's work easier, despite protests by her staff.

After that attempt, Bhutto believed elements in and close to the military aligned with the extremists wanted her dead. "I know exactly who wants to kill me," "They are dignitaries of General Zia's former regime who are behind extremism and fanaticism," she told the French magazine Paris-Match. She pointed specifically to the army's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, which was instrumental in creating the Taliban regime and has been managing Pakistan's alliance with the Taliban -- and al Qaeda -- ever since.

Whether Pervez Musharraf was personally involved in the plot to kill Bhutto is a secondary question. The problem of Pakistan's policy toward al Qaeda and the Taliban was never about Musharraf personally. It was about a Pakistani military whose loyalties in the struggle against terrorism were ambiguous, at best.

The Bush-Cheney policy toward Pakistan after 9/11, however, was based on the lie that the Musharraf regime was fully committed to the struggle against al Qaeda and the Taliban. In reality, Bush and Cheney made a deal with Musharraf under which his regime gave up a little but got a great deal in return: the CIA was permitted to use missiles to kill selected jihadi leaders in Pakistan and Pakistani intelligence helped captured individual al Qaeda officials if and when the United States had sufficient intelligence to identify their whereabouts. In return the United States welcomed him as a hero in Washington, provided $4.5 billion in disguised subsidies to the Pakistan military by 2006 and agreed to sell $3 billion worth of arms, including new F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the White House remained silent while Musharraf made a political pact in 2004 with the five party Islamic alliance aligned with the Taliban and al Qaeda in the two border provinces in order to have a majority in the parliament to support the military takeover. It did not protest when the Pakistani military allowed the made deals with the jihadi leadership in the border provinces in 2004 and 2006 that emboldened the Taliban to escalate the war against the Kharzai regime in Afghanistan. Nor did it make any public protest over the rapid growth of Al Qaeda training bases in Pakistan.

The whole history of the Pakistani military, as veteran journalist Selig Harrison reminds us, has been intertwined with the jihadis ideology, both in Afghanistan and at home. And the Pakistani military, while fearing the power of the extremists, also viewed them as allies against the democratic opposition to military rule.

As a representative of Pakistani landowning elite, Bhutto certainly had her political faults, but there was nothing ambivalent about her attitude toward the religious extremists. Furthermore, unlike Musharaff and the Pakistani military, she was unalterably opposed to the Taliban. Significantly her last day had begun with a joint statement with Afghan President Karzai, who had been fighting with Musharraf for years over his pro-Taliban policy.

Her project was to rallying the forces in Pakistan who supported democracy and opposed the religious extremists who had seized power in Pakistan's northwest border region. Now we will never know how successful she might have been.

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto ought to be the death knell for the Bush-Cheney policy of smothering the military regime in Pakistan with rewards in the hope that they will do something nice. Americans should honor her courage and her cause by demanding a full Congressional investigation of the secret deals made by the Bush-Cheney administration with Musharraf and their doleful consequences for U.S. insecurity.

Read more reactions from HuffPost bloggers on Benazir Bhutto's assassination

Comments

[comments]

A solution can be if pakistan give"s Waziristan NWFP FATA region back to Afghanistan as they should have after Durand line 100 year treaty expired in 1990s (like Hong Kong went back to china).
This will eliminate the excuse mushraf uses to why pak military cannot go there (autonomous region etc..) and NATO cannot come into (Pakistan territory). Pakistan grabbed this land after treaty expired and called it a autonomous region . It needs to give it back as it should have in the first place. Then NATO can go in and clean the place out, local pashtuns will like that too.

[comments]

Mushraff is the CEO of Terrorist Inc. in an Armani Suite. He pretends to have switched sides, for what 12 billion $ of aid over 5 years . He and his ISI were caught red handed after 911, with no other choice he signed on to play pretend game for a pay than get bombed. All the weapons he bought with this aid are all to fight India not terrorism. After all he and ISI are the Terrorism inc. ISI is comprised of Pakistan military officers moon lighting through. Point being Pak military and ISI are also connected. What he really wants? To Islamize south Asia in the long run, a reason why pakistan itself was created ,and in short run control of Afghanistan directly or via its proxy Taliban.
The only confusing part is how supporting this enterprise in US interests.

[PeterM]

Bhuttos murder helped all parties that participated. Islamist assassins with the neglectful "help" of the Musharaf military are most likely directly responsible. The US role is indirect in that the neocons have and still support Musharaf. Bhutto was used as a US tool to manipulate Musharaf in the same way the Iraqis are manipulated against each other. The problem for the US is that she was removed from the scene too early. Divide and conquer is the modus operandi. Musharaf understood this of course.

[bronceye]

The tiger. I want to hear about the tiger. I must be made aware of my mortality and fear must drive every decision that I make. I cannot feel secure while striving for life, liberty and pursuing happiness. Young white women disappear. If Anna Nicole can die, so can I. What is this talk of a migrating statesperson have to do with instilling fear in my pysche? This is no reason for indiscriminate slaughter. If they had cut off her head that would be scarey(ask rummy). Oh wait, people killed in demonstrations, cool. Now, I feel insecure. Thank you liberal MSM.

[horseface]

One may admire Ms. Bhutto personally, but she was reckless, not only with her own life, but with the lives of her supporters. Upwards of 200 people have died as a result of her return; her lack of judgement puts her value as a leader in doubt.

[Transcendentobserver]

No Sir! The assassination of Ms. Bhutto ought to be the death knell of bloggers and politicians alike who seek to politicize that tragic event. Her courageous legacy should be an inspiration to all that the virtuous state is, as Socrates observed, the virtue of a statesperson writ large. For God's sake give her life the dignity it deserves by honoring her life and the civic virtue she epitomized, not an excuse for exploitive polemics.

[joja]

Mr. Porter --

You don't REALLY think that the Cheney/Bush regime's support for Musharraf has anything to do with instilling democracy in Pakistan, do you?

It's all about one fascist dictatorship enabling another. And you can bet that somehow or another Haliburton, Lockheed-Martin, Exxon/Mobil, Blackwater, et. al. is benefitting from it.

Otherwise, we could give a shit less about a dirtbag country on the other side of the world.

[CSE]

After reading Mr. Porter's bio, it would seem he would also be aware of the flaws in US policy and aid to Pakistan from prior administrations as well - in order to properly contrast the situation that exists there now and without placing the blame so narrowly.

Zbigniew Brzezinski likes to take credit for setting the "Afghan Trap" for the USSR, where assistance/involvement from Pakistan was imperative.

Read "Ghost Wars" by Steven Coll and then try to digest this narrow view of US policy toward Pakistan.

[Purple Girl]

No doubt our regime has dirty dealings with many other countries corrupt regimes.
Add this to the list of indictable acts of treason and War Crimes against this admin.
It has become glaringly obvious this admin has and will thrive on Choas-within and outside our borders.
This admin needs a bigger mattress to support all their 'strange' bed fellows.

[wmike100]

Musharraf involved in the plot to kill Bhutto is a SECONDARY question?

Not acceptable, my friend. Musharraf and the military is responsible for Bhutto's assassination. And we, the United States, are responsible for Musharraf and the military being in power.

Make no mistake about this... ultimately it is OUR foreign policy that killed Bhutto.

[wmike100]

Maybe if the CIA hadn't mucked around in Pakistan, the Taliban wouldn't exist and neither would Al Queda. It is the CIA that created the extremists. It is the United States that has continued to support military dictatorships in Pakistan. This is not a Bush-Cheney issue, this is an issue of what has been standard U.S. policy in countries around the world.

If we continue to mistreat other countries, this type of thing will continue to happen.

[Halsey]

I've not yet seen Charlie Wilson's War..(but will)...but..I ponder..now WHY didn't we just let the Soviets have Afghanistan? My gawd..they had a 3000+ mile border with an ever increasing islamic fundamentalist country.

IF they'd been allowed their incursion...the soviet union still would have fallen...we would not have armed and trained bin Laden and the moushahadeen (sp?)... Carter has to answer for this one..then Reagan..

we are fools..always..I mean always...backing the wrong horse... and 25 years later..pay the consequences.

With all her imperfections, Benazar was an amazing human...so brave..knowing she would probably die..but our "back channel" negotiated her return to Pakistan...lamb to the slaughter...why the fuck didn't blackwater do some good for once and guard HER?

[BinBaldwin]

Springsm
We did start discussions with Pakistan after 911. USA had NO relationship with Pakistan in the Clinton years.

[Rocku]

Though I am no fan of Bush or his policies to date, it is a matter of fact that he and his cabinet will have to deal with this crisis or see Pakistan go over the edge. Time is critical here. Unless the opposition party can put up another candidate (extremely unlikely given that Bhuto WAS the party), then there will be no elections and we will have to live with the current dictator until he too is assasinated or removed by the army. But the army of Pakistan does not wish to be the force associated with failure of the political situation in the country. My guess is they will try to keep Musharif in power, quell the disturbances, and make deals with whomever they can to restore some semblance of order. There is no civilian leader on the immediate horizon who can be elected and make sense of the current situation. If the extremists elements gain more power in the rural areas over this (an almost sure thing) then our only option is to prop up whoever controls the cities and the nukes and hope that some semblance of diplomacy and aid can bring more civilian leaders to the fore before things get completely out of hand (also unlikely). Hands off policies won't do, and hands on diplomacy by us alone has only a very long shot at success. Only an all out effort by the entire rest of the world with us fully engaged as well has any possibility of preventing an eventual takeover by the extremists elements there. A full on carrot and stick policy by everyone who has infulence in the world commmunity may work... but when was the last time you saw complete cooperation in such a venture. I am no fan of the UN either, but at least it is a vehicle for engagement when something like this occurs. Let's hope against experience that they and our current "leadership" is up to the challenge.

[castlerider]

This is an opportunity to take Al Quaeda out of the Bush-enemy realm and place them in a world enemy realm for once.
What I mean by that is that Bush has called their name in gaining support to do things that have not benefitted to trounce this enemy once and for all; his campaign went out of bounds to secure another country's resources, and he will forever be branded as an idiot for the waste amd destruction it has caused in his purposely missing his target.. Ironically, I learned in research long ago that the term in ancient hebrew dialect for the word "sin" is described actually as "missing your target." Actually, calling the occupation in Iraq a sin seems quite accurate, but we all know it's much worse..
It's time to go after this enemy and push the idiots Bush/Cheney out of the way while doing it; not for political reasons but for more effectiveness in destroying this enemy.
Any person who would be so cowardly as to kill a woman then kill themselves thinking it benefits their soul is apparently of a mind so backward, so illogical and bent that they have obviously pushed themselves to be actually less then human; and deserve to be hunted down like the animals they are and destroyed with little of any thought of how to rehabilitate them or any of their kind. Sounds heartless, but that's how you win against an enemy like that. With extreme prejudice, like a devil dog US Marine.
This was not Musharraf's doing but he did not help the situation by not offering proper security to Benazir after it was pleaded to him, and now he will be hated for all his days by a vast majority of his countrymen. He has to strongly regret such mindless, egotistical stupidity. He was trying to pull a Cheney. What an idiot- look what it got him.