‘Musharraf’s
Follies’
By Col. Riaz Jafri
(Retd)
Westridge, Rawalpindi
The Los Angeles Times May
26th editorial "Musharraf's Follies"
seems clearly to be the craftwork of a biased
writer who seems to have personal scores to settle
with him. Agreed, one may not be able to perceive
the ground realities exactly and correctly sitting
six thousand miles away, yet just painting every
thing red and not seeing anything positive that
President Musharraf has done during the past eight
years or so is going a little too far.
It is equally unjust for the LA Times to equate
President Musharraf with the likes of Anastasio
Somoza in Nicaragua or Ferdinand Marcos of Philippines,
known to be the corrupt of the highest order with
billions stashed away in Swiss Banks. Can Mr.
Editor or any one else point out corruption of
even a penny against President Musharraf and that
too despite his so-called complete ‘autocratic’
rule of 8 years in Pakistan, where it was considered
just a norm for political rulers to plunder the
national wealth to their heart’s desire?
One should not be carried away just for the sake
of castigating someone for his imaginary faults
and shortcomings. Using words like the “errant
autocrat, steadily expanding his powers and no
more of a democrat that what he was etc.”
are a clear manifestation of either an ignorant
or a biased mind. The fact of the matter is that
each and every one of his acts has had the constitutional
backing and sanction, either by the parliament
or the Supreme Court of Pakistan itself. What
more democratic could his actions be?
According to the editorial he is alleged to have
collected 8 to 10 billion dollars in US aid! Was
this money given to him personally – as
the editorial tries to mislead the readers –
or has he deposited such an amount in some personal
account in some foreign bank, as was the practice
with his predecessors? Mr. biased Editor, if at
all the funds came these must have gone to the
government of Pakistan and whether you like to
believe it or not, must have been properly accounted
for to the last penny, unlike the Iraqi oil revenue
which disappears quietly in thin air. Mr Hussain
Al-shahristani, the oil minister of Iraq, said
recently in India that Iraq was currently producing
2.85 million barrels a day of crude oil. At the
present international rate of $ 70 per barrel,
it turns out to be over $62 billion a year. This
has been happening so for the last three years
or so. Who is taking away the lion's share or
blowing Iraq 's riches?
The editorial goes on to say, “Terrified
that Musharraf might be assassinated or overthrown
by a fundamentalist Islamic regime that would
inherit a nuclear arsenal, Washington has given
the general the benefit of every doubt.”
I think the USA, as well as the rest of the world,
need not be terrified on this count. Pakistani
nukes are in very safe and responsible hands.
Fundamentalists or no fundamentalists, as long
as the Pakistan army is unified, disciplined,
well trained, patriotic and nationalistic, which
all it is today, no one can have any access to
its well monitored and controlled nuclear arsenal.
Incidentally, I wonder if the West is really alive
to the danger of the maligning campaign launched
against the Pakistan army by some of pseudo-intellectuals,
writers, politicians and tupence journalists,
harping on the so-called ‘undemocratic’
rule of President Musharraf and blaming the Pakistan
army for it. In that they are targeting and focussing
the army higher command and subjecting it to all
kind of ridicule and indignation, lowering it
in the eyes of the junior officers and men. Do
they realize it can distance them from their troops
and weaken the fabric of the unity of command
on which rests the basic foundation of the edifice
of an army? Should that ever happen – God
forbid – that will be the end of the Pakistan
army and Pakistan. Nukes or no nukes!!
The Los Angeles Times editorial goes on to say,
“The US needs to show that it has a long-term
commitment to the Pakistani people and an abiding
interest in promoting peace, human dignity and
economic development in the region.” Mr.
Editor, the US will have to do much more than
to merely say so to convince the people of Pakistan
of its sincerity. They are not only once bitten
twice shy, but four times bitten and many times
shy (1952 Garry Power’s U-2 downing episode
and Khrushchev drawing red circle around Peshawar
on its map, 1965 war with India and the US sanctioning
supply of critical spares for tanks and aircraft,
1971 7th Fleet passing by the Bay of Bengal without
saying even hello to the beleaguered West Pakistani
troops in what is now Bangladesh, 1991 when Pakistan
fought the USA proxy war for 10 long years in
Afghanistan, dismembering and dissolving the USSR
and making the USA the sole super power in the
world and the ungrateful USA immediately imposing
sanctions on Pakistan. What an unkind cut to the
best ally of the allies? These are some of the
bitter truths hard to forget.
The LA Times editorial further goes on, “It
(US) must make clear that it will support whatever
democratically chosen leader emerges in Pakistan
.””
Mr. Editor, support Musharraf, that’s in
your (US), world’s and our interest.
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