2008 Woodie Awards
Troubling trends in Pakistan
Joe Caporoso
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Op/Ed
America can't seem to catch a break in the Middle East. After the attacks on September 11th, we began counting on Pakistan as a major ally in the region in our war against terrorism. The White House backed leader General Pervez Musharraf and funded his government billions of dollars to help root out terrorist organizations in and around their nation. Now Musharraf has blindsided the Bush administration by suspending constitutional rights and seizing emergency powers. The decision has basically placed Pakistan under martial law and led to opposition leaders being placed in prison.
The situation inside Pakistan has been a complex one over the past few years. Musharraf is an American-backed military dictator, who presides over a government with nuclear weapons at its disposal. Inside Pakistan, he is not a popular leader among the people and is facing heavy opposition from a number of different political parties, and the nation's Supreme Court. He has claimed to be moving his nation toward democracy over the past eight years, yet there is little evidence of his transition having any type of success.
Critics assert his latest decision to suspend the constitution is due to an impending ruling by the Supreme Court that would question the legality of his re-election last month. The court is now shut down, along with the independent media sources that could question Musharraf. Beyond that, opposition leaeder Benazir Bhutto has been placed under house detention to prevent her from leading a march in protest of Musharraf's actions.
America is now in an extremely difficult position. There had already been numerous questions about the Bush administration's heavy financial support of Pakistan. These concerns were due to the continued presence of terrorists along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border and questions about how the billions of dollars were being spent to help promote democracy. After Musharraf's latest action, America is currently supporting a military dictator who is losing his grip on power and is resorting to desperate actions. His decision has only increased instability, in an already unstable nation that is torn between secularism and a more conservative brand of Islamic rule.
The Bush administration has paid its obligatory lip service criticizing Musharraf's decision, yet now must decide whether to take any real action. Removing the billions of American dollars that support Musharraf would be a start. Supporting military dictators has never benefited America in the past and certainly will not in this situation. America needs a peaceful nation on the border of Afghanistan and cannot afford to see another nation fall into a state of civil war in the Middle East. Beyond that, America needs a government they can trust in control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Allowing Pakistan to turn into another Afghanistan is an unimaginably bad situation for America's short and long term safety.
The situation inside Pakistan has been a complex one over the past few years. Musharraf is an American-backed military dictator, who presides over a government with nuclear weapons at its disposal. Inside Pakistan, he is not a popular leader among the people and is facing heavy opposition from a number of different political parties, and the nation's Supreme Court. He has claimed to be moving his nation toward democracy over the past eight years, yet there is little evidence of his transition having any type of success.
Critics assert his latest decision to suspend the constitution is due to an impending ruling by the Supreme Court that would question the legality of his re-election last month. The court is now shut down, along with the independent media sources that could question Musharraf. Beyond that, opposition leaeder Benazir Bhutto has been placed under house detention to prevent her from leading a march in protest of Musharraf's actions.
America is now in an extremely difficult position. There had already been numerous questions about the Bush administration's heavy financial support of Pakistan. These concerns were due to the continued presence of terrorists along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border and questions about how the billions of dollars were being spent to help promote democracy. After Musharraf's latest action, America is currently supporting a military dictator who is losing his grip on power and is resorting to desperate actions. His decision has only increased instability, in an already unstable nation that is torn between secularism and a more conservative brand of Islamic rule.
The Bush administration has paid its obligatory lip service criticizing Musharraf's decision, yet now must decide whether to take any real action. Removing the billions of American dollars that support Musharraf would be a start. Supporting military dictators has never benefited America in the past and certainly will not in this situation. America needs a peaceful nation on the border of Afghanistan and cannot afford to see another nation fall into a state of civil war in the Middle East. Beyond that, America needs a government they can trust in control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Allowing Pakistan to turn into another Afghanistan is an unimaginably bad situation for America's short and long term safety.