Clashes between government supporters and opposition activists flared for a second day Sunday in the country’s largest city, bringing the weekend death toll to about 40.
The clashes in the southern city of Karachi were prompted by a judicial crisis that has gripped the country since March 9, when the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, suspended Pakistan’s chief justice for alleged abuses of office. Since then, protesters have frequently taken to the streets to rally against what they see as an attempt by Musharraf to snuff out fledgling democratic institutions and ease his way to another term.
As I have been reading these stories the past few days, all I could think to myself was “I bet I will be hearing about Michael Ledeen’s involvement in this in four years.”
jg
I must have missed a memo because I have no idea what that means.
empty
This is actually worse than it looks. Musharraf for all his faults did allow for the development of civil society groups and for freedom of the press (For an example see the Dawn website, and in particular the columnist Ayaz Amir). Unfortunately, like all military dictators he didn’t know when to step down. Now to protect himself he is using sectarian forces which could really tear the country up. The MQM, whose militants did most of the shooting and killing of the demonstrators on the first day (and are referred to as Musharraf supporters) represent an ethnic minority (refugees from India) to which Musharraf belongs. Using them in this way is incredibly dangerous and seems to indicate that Musharraf is panicking. Not a good thing at all.
jh
Do you mean to say that our unflinching support for a military dictator with a nuclear arsenal is going to end in disaster?
What a suprise.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
This was all Clinton’s fault. If he’d taken Musharraf out in 1999 instead of getting a blowjob and continuing to cover up the murder of Vince Foster, none of this would have happened.
mrmobi
Scruffy, you are quick. I agree, all of our problems have been caused by the Clenis and the Clagina.
On a sad note, if this devolves into an actual revolution, the victors will possess nuclear weapons.
Yippeeeeeeee!
Pb
He’s talking about this guy–not to mention his daughter as well…
Jake
And in case things get too boring in Islamabad:
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
“Clagina” is my new favorite term. I’m going to try to work it into almost every post. Well, at least until it becomes tiresome, anyways.
Good! Finally, America and India can team up to clobber the bad guys! Next stop, China!
Bring it on! We can’t lose! Even if 100 million Americans die, as long as we kill 500 million of our enemies, we win!
Mr Furious
Mission Accomplished. ;-)
jg
I know who Ledeen is (though not as well as I know him now, thanks for the link) and I’d heard about his daughters high post in the Iraqi reconstruction (money taking) efforts but I just didn’t quite get the connection John was hinting at.
Mr Furious
These neo-clowns cannot even play Connect Four, never mind chess. Who couldn’t see this shit coming? Propping up Musharraf, while his support whittled away and he played footsy with OBL is a fucking fiasco of historic proportions. This county has a fucking nuclear arsenal. The second he gets knocked off, everybody from India to the U.S.’s worst nightmare becomes instantly true—”witness the power of this fully armed and operational (nuclear, radical Islamist) battlestation.”
Assholes.
p.lukasiak
We have to rig the justice system over there, so we don’t have to do it here.
oh, wait….
mrmobi
I just hope we don’t ignore the fake historical precedent:
I find it reassuring that we have such a supremely competent CIC during these difficult times, don’t you guys?
Zifnab
Ledeen co-wrote the big Apocolypse series “Left Behind”. Not sure if John’s claiming that Ledeen is trying to drum up book sales by helping to topple third-world dictators with nuclear weapons and toss the region at large into global anarchy, or if Ledeen just holds the “Fuck up the World in General” chairmanship position at the AEI, but I think that’s where he’s taking this.
Pb
jg,
At this point, I think the question is, what are the odds that Ledeen might have been involved, or if we later found out that he was, would we be at all surprised?
LITBMueller
Pakistan falling apart, Afghanistan ruled by warlords and the Taliban (still), a Turkey in political turmoil ready to invade norther Iraq to take on the Kurds…. And we’re worried that leaving Iraq would lead to a bloody civil war and terrorist state? Sheesh…. Time to finally take the Saddam Blinders off.
mrmobi
General Buck Turgidson, uhhh, Michael Ledeen. Oops, my bad.
mrmobi
…and all this time I thought Rove was the idea man in this administration.
jg
Gotcha.
What a guy. Was he a student of Strauss also?
Pb
The thing is, Ledeen is a full-blown nutball–he makes George W. Bush look like Cindy Sheehan. But of course he’s involved in policy–didn’t the AEI job, the neocon connections, and the nepotism tell you that already?
Pug
Ledeen co-wrote the big Apocolypse series “Left Behind”.
I believe that was written by Tim LaHaye and some other guy, not Ledeen. Ledeen is merely trying to make everything in the books come true.
I’ve said for a long time that Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world; a shaky military dictatorship armed with nukes in a country rotten with jihadis and Islamic fundamentalists. A slightly more stable Somalia with nukes..
I hope I’m not proven correct. However, I usually am proven correct, so I’m not counting on it.
timeisart
The next president (if there is one) will receive from the outgoing administration, as a gift of hatred and contempt, a totally destabilized middle east, complete with the possibility of nukes being put up for grabs or sale to the bidder who most likely could deliver a few to the cities of America.
mrmobi
You moonbats are getting this instability thing all wrong.
The coming conflagration should be seen as an opportunity.
Pb
I don’t know, but he has been known to quote Strauss; he did write a book called Machiavelli on Modern Leadership, though, if that tells you anything…
Zifnab
I thought it was LaHaye and Ledeen. Wow. I’m totally off. Totally ignore me, k thx.
KCinDC
Fortunately for the Republicans, as we saw with the Saddam-Osama confusion, most of the American public doesn’t actually distinguish between different Muslim countries. It’s all just a big blob of brown Islamofascists, so if something bad happens with Pakistan it’s just more evidence that we need to keep fighting them harder.
Mr Furious
Is that better or worse than the President barely being a student of Suess?
The Other Steve
Nothing to see here. This is just another example of the MSM playing up all the bad news, and ignoring the wonderful news coming out of Pakistan.
And besides… war is good for business.
srv
This is the Ledeen who was for the Iraq war before he was against it?
And he’s just a bit player. The guy who makes fake Niger docs, not the guy who ordered them. What do you think Elliot Abrams has been up to for Dick, since they even now admit that Condi is just out there hand-waving?
BadTux
Ah yes, Pakistan. One bullet away from Osama having his very own atomic bomb. When the U.S. brow-beat Pakistan into allowing American overflights, then American troops into the country in support of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, they set into motion a disaster which was predictable and predicted. The only question is *when* Musharraf will fall, not *if* — well, that and the question of what Osama will do with his new-found atomic weapon, which is an… interesting… question indeed.
Punchy
I’ll guess that’s some sort of nudie mag.
Tsulagi
Naw, no mess. Just another future opportunity brewing for our special Decider/Commander Guy.
Governing stuff is boring, he yearns for more freedomizing adventures to once again shock and awe us with his military and democratizing prowess. Iran and Pakistan are both just begging to be Iraqified by the Uniter’s magic.
sparky
All part of the plan. When Pakistan goes south (from teh US perspective), teh US will outsource the job to India. That’s why India got teh US okie-dokie to build all the bombs they wanted last year. Nukular call centers are WAY cheaper in India.
Punchy
OT: Welcome to Justice, America-style!
If only O.J. had been held in Gitmo, Ron Goldman would have his justice. If only….