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November 6, 2007
Does General Pervez Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule in a tottering Pakistan indicate that Pakistan is not a mindless American proxy fighting for the US in its war on terrorism? Despite the strong urgings of the US and Britain about retaining democracy the generals were hell-bent on the imposition of emergency rule.
Steve Bell
Recall that President Bush's Bush key theme in his "war on terror" is that he waging a global war for democracy and freedom. He even compares Islamist "plans to build a totalitarian Islamist empire ... stretching from Europe to North Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia" to the Third Reich; and that US-led campaigns have "liberated 50 million people from the clutches of tyranny" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush even goes so far to say that the people in the Middle East are "looking to the United States to stand up for them".
Yet one of Bush's staunchest allies in his global war is squashing democracy and freedom--people have been arrested, fundamental rights have been suspended, television stations censored and stringent media regulations introduced. The US doublespeak becomes all too apparent in the mildly reproachful comment over Musharraf's move, bordering on resignation, by the US spokesmen.
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Gary
Musharraf has assessed that the worsening situation in Afghanistan leaves the US with hardly much choice in the matter other than working with the regime that he chooses to head. The US dependence on him is only likely to deepen in the coming weeks, and Musharraf has succeeded in underscoring in Western capitals that he is the anchor of "stability" in Pakistan.