Freedom's on the March!!!!!
Irony is what makes the Bush administration entertaining even as the world catches fire. Of course, it's probably more succinctly called hypocrisy but irony has that shrug of sweetness that makes us want to laugh or cry at the absurdity. In Pakistan, as Pervez Musharraf tears down a feeble constitution with swiftness, openly and bluntly, it's hard not to think of the insidious methods our own president has employed to whack away at America's sacred founding document.
In Pakistan, however, the irony that makes our president's friendship with the dictator Musharraf so hilarious is that American taxpayers are funding the military takeover. Using the War on Terror as its premise, the Bush administration has pumped about $10 billion dollars into the Pakistani military since 2001. So, when you see the evening newscasts from the TV networks or catch a video on the net, remember those guns doing Musharraf's oppressive work were paid for by you and me. And there is no sign from the Bush White House or Secretary of State Rice that the Pakistani bank account run by US taxpayers is going to be closed any time in the near future.
The rationale for these expenditures was that we could not afford to have an unfriendly Pakistan as we waged war in Iraq. Conveniently, this American president ignored the fact that the Pakistani leader had taken over his country in a 1999 coup. He was our guy (just as Saddam was before we decided he no longer was paying attention when we told him what to do.) Your tax dollars were supposed to help search the mountainous border regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan and crack down on al Qaeda and hunt down Osama bin Laden.
Nothing of the sort has ever really transpired, though. Musharraf has long tried to walk a squiggly line that separates him from the West while also trying to look like our ally in the war. However, if he pushes too hard against Islamic militants in his country, they will threaten to make his life miserable and his already tenuous hold on power even more fragile. Consequently, he allows his army, expending US tax dollars, to do a few cursory patrols into the border mountains to make it appear as if they are looking for al Qaeda and bin Laden. Occasionally, some stupid militant caught peeing along the side of the road will have to be arrested so there are results to share with the US and the rest of the world but no one of consequence is ever brought to justice in Pakistan.
The Bush team seems to be unwilling to make Musharraf do anything of value and consistently lets him flaunt his own ineffectiveness. If you want an example of the White House's own intransigence on this matter, go back to last summer's Aspen Institute appearance of Karl Rove. An audience member asked him why we didn't use military force of our own to go into Pakistan and get al Qaeda and find bin Laden. Rove, hilariously, said that we "can't exactly go running around with our military inside of a sovereign country without an invitation." Howls of laughter rocked the house before Rove corrected himself and said "unless you've got someone like Saddam Hussein that you have to deal with."
The need for democracy is apparently very selective. It doesn't look like we will be forcing it on Pakistan any time soon and Iraq's neighbor, Saudi Arabia, is not a target of the American president's desire to spread democracy, either. The Saudi Royal Family runs a nice little plutocracy that sells oil to America and as long as that relationship flows right along there won't be much pressure from the Bush White House to force democracy into their culture. Funny, too, how Iran's president is so dangerous. If only he would sell US oil companies some crude and stop bad-mouthing Israel he might be able to avoid a force-feeding of Western-style democracy, as well.
Let us not worry. Freedom is on the march; if only it knew where in the hell it was going and why.
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Freedom, like the rest of us, is looking for somewhere to hide.
There really isn't anything new to see here, at least in terms of US policy. We have made the same exact mistake over and over again since the end if WWII.
We have supported countless military dictators all over the world: in Chile, Indonesia, Greece, Iraq, Iran, and now Pakistan, just to name a few. The only thing that's changed is the specific language of the justification (although the justification itself remains the same): after WWII, we were preventing the spread of communism; now, we are preventing the spread of terrorism.
And we make the mistake the same exact way time and again. We overthrow the government of the country, which is oftentimes democratically elected, and install a general who has sworn fealty to us. We then canonize them as great leaders who fight tirelessly against our subhuman enemies; and provide them with billions in "military aid" and world-class training for their military officers.
Once the general is firmly ensconced, most of the time they take the weapons and training we have provided them and turn them against their neighbors or even (more often) their own people. Eventually, usually after decades of war and oppression, the people finally overthrow the dictator and oftentimes *elect* a government which is openly and firmly anti-American.
The really fun part is that Pakistan has nukes; which will likely fall into the hands of religious extremists when Musharraf is finally overthrown. This is not a question of "if", it is only a question of "when".
If we were actually serious about preventing islamic terrorists from acquiring nuclear materials, we should have invaded North Korea and Pakistan instead of Afghanistan and Iraq. Unfortunately, these countries have very limited supplies of oil.
This country stinks. The Dems stink and the REpubs stink. The Jaysus freeks stink and the media stinks. And when the oil gets cut off and the water supply goes dry and all our food gets made into ethanol, well it will stink even more. Get a nose clip folks, we're in for lots more stinkin' thinkin'.
Yes, occasionally the "real world" has to have a part in deciding what is possible. No, we don't want democracy if the public is going to vote for Al Quaeda to be armed with nukes. It's not that complicated. Just because a country is a democracy, doesn't mean it can't be our enemy. The people of America are the prime concern, not the fuzzy little foreigners.
You can't make this stuff up. It is nothing new, though. The US has had a history of this throughout the last 100 years. Think Saddam, the Shah of Iran, the Saudi Oppressive monarchy, to name just a few. The news here is that it is news to the US people at all. When are we going to wake up? We're like the children of some mafia mobster who don't know where Daddy gets the all the cool stuff, and why Daddy keeps such shady looking company. Well, maybe we don't want to or care to know. Maybe we like it that Daddy can scare the world witless.
I think the reason bush isn't objecting to the military takeover is because he and his neocon hit men planned the military takeover. The people of Pakistan will now be in "shock," and the shock period will be used by global corporations to take over the resources of the country, exactly as Naomi Klein outlined in her book.
Also, bush having made no effort to find bin laden is yet another circumstance strongly suggestive of neocon involvement in 9/11.
Bush has looked into the eyes of Musharif and Putin and seen kindred spirits. How dare you question the wisdom of your King? Democracy is a quaint idea.
Pray for freedom, for surely it is not within us to take it.
Man is born as a freak of nature, being within nature and yet transcending it. He has to find principles of action and decision making which replace the principles of instincts. he has to have a frame of orientation which permits him to organize a consistent picture of the world as a condition for consistent actions. He has to fight not only against the dangers of dying, starving, and being hurt, but also against another anger which is specifically human: that of becoming insane. In other words, he has to protect himself not only against the danger of losing his life but also against the danger of losing his mind.
(Erich Fromm, The Sane Society, p. 61)
It looks like democracy is only what we think it is and in the dictionary what we are told it is as long as the guy in charge. Musharraf is someone who has the WMD for real and he has been on our payroll for years. Don't that make you feel safe at home over here in your bed? The idea he has been so close to Bush is a joke as no one is close to bush unless they are usable to his plans.
yes but it's a military dictatorship built on democracy. Musharraf has read the text and has beaten George & Co. to the punch.
Damn, that was a beautiful piece. These are the kind of postings that make Huffpost standout.
One irony that is overlooked is that, if "democracy" (sad that we have to put that in quotes these days) gets back on track in Pak (as if it ever was on track), the Taliban may end up embarrassing everyone by being popularly elected...much in the same way Hamas raised eyebrows around the world.
but he is our dictator and we Americans love a puppet dictator.
now we have puppets in Iraq. it is amazing to me how many puppets will sell out their county for power and money.
what am I saying bush jr is doing just that.
I say lets make Iraq our 51st state but we need a name for it. how about blackgold or bloodformoney. what we are doing for Iraq we are slowly doing for Americans. create a society of haves and have nots.
and the ironic part is Americans line up at the polls to vote in politicians that are doing just that. Oh the benefits of a dumbed down society. Love it.
God I love America we can kick ass all over the world and no one raises a finger. Those in Europe like the demos are spineless.
Might makes right always has always will and we have the might.
Once again Biden has shown prescience,( last debate) in bringing up the fact that Pakistan - if it goes over to the Fundamentalists - would be the real problem, not Iran.
This country needs someone who actually understands the REAL threats facing the West.
Biden is indepensable, and deserves the Presidency
Practically almost every country where US put its dirty hands in it will bring lingering unwanted consequences to that country. By supporting one side only the US create division and unstability. Certainly it isn't for the benefit of that country the US got involved in the first place, rather for it's own hidden agenda. There are also unwanted repecussion and by products because of that and Al Qaeda is one.
We need voluteers to go to Pakistan and protest against this milatary dictator. Meet me in northern Pakistan next week, we have allies there who will embrace us.
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