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The Destabilization of Pakistan

The debate is heating up between those who favor and oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan. Put me in the latter camp – I cannot support escalation without first hearing a clear explanation of the strategic changes that would accompany the escalation, along with an explanation of how we’ll address issues of government and development sector corruption. In other words, I think that pumping in more troops without addressing the structural flaws of our approach will yield no results.And since we’re a long way away from solving those problems, I think we should hold off on troop increases.

Building an argument for or against more troops involves answering a number of questions. I’m only going to deal with one sub-point here,but it’s an important one: we need to define more carefully what political and social consequences escalation in Afghanistan might have for Pakistan.


One point that everyone on all sides of the debate loves to make is that x, y, or z maneuver by the US might ‘destabilize Pakistan.’ I think we’re reaching a point where we can talk more precisely about what that means. It’s easy to talk about ‘destabilization’ – it’s a nice buzzword that makes you sound authoritative, and an intimidating prospect to scare your audience or your opponents with. It’s a bogeyman. I myself have used it that way in the past. Admittedly,’destabilization‘ can be shorthand for a range of phenomena that are understood by the parties involved in a debate, but I think in this case we need to bring our use of the word back to more concrete details. The debate about Afghanistan/Pakistan needs to be accessible to as many Americans as possible.

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Pakistan Politics on the Brink Again:

By Shuja Nawaz

August 19th, 2008

As Pakistan lurches into another paroxysm of power politics with the threatened impeachment and expected resignation of President Pervez Musharraf, the post-Musharraf picture is not as clear or rosy as the authors of this move may want it to be. The unelected leaders of the coalition government of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N), Messrs. Asif Ali Zardari and M. Nawaz Sharif respectively may yet find themselves facing a political mess even after Musharraf is gone. There is much that may yet split their on-again, off-again alliance and bring the country to the edge of a new political crisis. In the meantime, the country is sliding into economic chaos and there is no sign that the government has a credible strategy to cope with the impending disaster.

After two weeks of travel and conversations with citizens, civil leaders, military officials, and journalists in Pakistan, a complex picture emerges: a country beset by serious economic woes, a growing insurgency, and a fractured polity. In the shadows sits the powerful Pakistan army, the historical arbiter of Pakistani politics, headed by a publicly inscrutable but privately engaged and engaging new chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

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Welcome To CIA-Sponsored Democracy

President Musharraf leaves office alone, besieged and abandoned. He is not leaving the country into strong hands. In fact, in the hands of the most the corrupt, unscrupulous and dangerous criminals this country ever produced. The regime-change game which CIA had initiated about one year ago finally succeeds. Musharraf’s removal is only a milestone in the larger CIA game of taking over Pakistan’s premier intelligence service, the ISI. Now another battle will begin for the control of power centers in Islamabad. Judges will not be restored and governance will not improve. Fasten your seat belts for some very bumpy ride in the coming days. The present leadership is not just incompetent; they are outright dangerous for the country. Now they cannot blame Musharraf for their failures and treasons and army would be watching their moves carefully.

By ZAID HAMID

Monday, 18 August 2008.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—President Musharraf finally resigns; ill advised, surrounded and abandoned; he chose to take the path of least resistance. He tried to be dignified in defeat and recounted his victories and achievements but the sorry state is that his legacy is Zardari, NRO and a corrupt weak government in Islamabad with a country literally gone to dogs!

He is not leaving the country into strong hands, in fact in the hands of most corrupt, unscrupulous and dangerous criminals this country has ever produced. The regime change game which CIA had initiated about one year ago finally succeeds though his resignation remains only a milestone in the larger CIA game of taking over Pakistan’s premier intelligence service ISI.

The CIA sponsored, PPP executed, U.S. backed attempted coup against ISI had begun to unfold a few weeks back with a new ruthless cut throat political strategy and a new target designation. This plan has the following landmarks to be achieved in rapid succession:

  • Removal of President Musharraf.
  • Appointment of Mr. Zardari or his man as President.
  • Bringing ISI again under Ministry of Interior.
  • Complete take over of Pakistan’s security establishment by CIA.

There is no doubt that both U.S. and Britain are closely monitoring the moves of the army as the Army Chief is also a major hurdle in U.S. plans to bring ISI under MoI.  With all the political parties in U.S. pocket, the army and the ISI are the next targets once the President has been annihilated.

Mr. Musharraf could have done better when he had decided to leave. He could have restored the judges to make life miserable for Zardari. He could have revoked the NRO to prevent Zardari from becoming the most powerful man in the country. He did neither and now Zardari is ecstatic and already planning to place his man, women or himself in the President house.

It is scavenging to the core by the political vultures and hyenas and now another battle will begin for the control of power centers in Islamabad. Judges will not be restored and governance will not improve. Fasten your seat belts for some very bumpy ride in the coming days. The present leadership is not just incompetent; they are outright dangerous for the country. Now they cannot blame Musharraf for their failures and treasons and army would be watching their moves carefully.

Welcome to CIA sponsored democracy.

This column is extracted from a situation report released by BRASSTACKS, a security and defense analysis think tank based in Islamabad. Mr. Zaid Hamid is its Founding Consultant. He can be reached at info@brasstacks.biz