Exclusive: U.S. urges Pakistanis to keep Musharraf, despite election defeat

[laststeamtrain]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

Exclusive: U.S. urges Pakistanis to keep Musharraf, despite election defeat
Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel | McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: February 20, 2008 07:24:01 PM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan _The Bush administration is pressing the opposition leaders who defeated Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to allow the former general to retain his position, a move that Western diplomats and U.S. officials say could trigger the very turmoil the United States seeks to avoid.

U.S. officials, from President Bush on down, said this week that they think Musharraf, a longtime U.S. ally, should continue to play a role, despite his party's rout in parliamentary elections Monday and his unpopularity in the volatile, nuclear-armed nation.

The U.S. is urging the Pakistani political leaders who won the elections to form a new government quickly and not press to reinstate the judges whom Musharraf ousted last year, Western diplomats and U.S. officials said Wednesday. If reinstated, the jurists likely would try to remove Musharraf from office.

Bush's policy of hanging on to Musharraf has caused friction between the White House and the State Department, with some career diplomats and other specialists arguing that the administration is trying to buck the political tides in Pakistan, U.S. officials said.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/28273.html

[maddezmom]

1. Bush Democracy

:eyes:

[saigon68]

19. Yes KICK this thread

This is bullshit. A right wing fascist dictator will remain in power

He is the equivalent of Henry Kissinger's GENERAL PINOCHET

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Biden and Kerry were just there talking to Musharraf

I await what they have to say vs...

"U.S. officials, from President Bush on down, said this week"

[Muttocracy]

7. Biden had a different spin on it - ceremonial position

I'll wait to hear more from Biden, Kerry, and Hagel when they return. I think Biden sees it as a token to keep Musharraf's forces from rioting while respecing the majority result (Biden is relieved other parties won the election). There have been several news items about it, this is the most recent I've seen:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/musharraf-resigned-to-ceremonial-role-as-opposition-parties-prepare-for-power-784419.html

Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and part of an American delegation that met with Mr Musharraf yesterday morning, said the president appeared to have accepted the reality of the election result, which saw his parliamentary allies soundly defeated.

"I don't think he is going to resign... my impression is that he was prepared to retire to being president, which he pointed out to us is ceremonial," said Mr Biden. "To me it appears more about respect than power. Much will depend on how he is treated by the opposition parties and whether they opt for a transition rather than... revolution."

Edit to add - this election will determine prime minister, right? Presidential election was last fall so if we're going to respect their elections, he did win that election? And he's already stepped down as military leader? Hope I have this straight.

[xxqqqzme]

29. '...Much will depend on

how he is treated by the opposition parties....'

Well if that's the benchmark, then he should be shot. Isn't that how Masharraf dealt w/ opposition?

[Inuca]

15. Here is some of what they have to say

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C02%5C21%5Cstory_21-2-2008_pg7_31

Kerry said it was up to Musharraf and the Pakistani people to decide whether he stayed on as president in the wake of the election results.

“It would be totally inappropriate for us as American officials... to express any views on this,” he said when asked if Musharraf should resign.

[Xipe Totec]

3. His Majesty the Decider has spoken.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. Be damned what the people want or expect to get with their votes?

Just do what the United States tells you to do, and you won't be invaded.

[primavera]

20. That's been the shrub's position on "democracy" in this country...

... why should he adopt a different point of view on any other?

[rocktivity]

5. Candidate for this month's "You Call This NEWS?" Award

How else can he justify urging AMERICANS to keep HIM in office despite the November election defeat?

Remember when Rudy 9ui11iani asked to postpone the elections in 2001?

:eyes:
rocknation

[dysfunctional press]

6. "unka dick- can't we get fat tony and his supreme court to do....something?"

"...after all, shouldn't i be the decider of what's best for the people of parkingstand?

maybe can i add a signing statement to their election tally sheet...?

what if i holler REAL loud, stamp my feet and hold my breath til i turn blue??"

[Bozita]

24. Your post looks like a DUzy to me.

Thanks.

[f the letter]

8. Oh you bastard

Spreading 'democracy' as usual i see

[DeSwiss]

9. Should continue to play a role???

- Like someone's going to take the advice of Mr. 19%......

K&R!!!
===============================================================
DeSwiss

[RuleOfNah]

10. Musharraf must stay, Chavez must go?

How do diplomats keep from laughing inappropriately?

[Dark]

11. We're spreading democracy!!! Woot! Woot!

Oh, wait

[freedomnorth]

12. Perhaps Bush too should have position after U.S. presidential elections?

:sarcasm:

[laststeamtrain]

18. As in : "Hands up. Assume the position. You're under arrest for..." n/t

[acmavm]

13. Hell, the fools should have put the voting tabulations on RNC computers

like they do in American elections. A sudden blackout, some downtime, and viola, Mushie could have kept his job.

[qwlauren35]

14. Would Bush Invade Pakistan?

I wanted to believe that he was a lame duck until someone posited this scenario. And he's crazy enough to do it...

[InkAddict]

21. Naw, it's not about democracy in Pakistan

Here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080221/bs_afp/afghanistanminingeconomy_080221024804

Afghanistan is sitting on a wealth of mineral reserves -- perhaps the richest in the region -- that offer hope for a country mired in poverty after decades of war, the mining minister says.

Significant deposits of copper, iron, gold, oil and gas, and coal -- as well as precious gems such as emeralds and rubies -- are largely untapped and still being mapped

Example of copper alone: "A 30-year lease for the Aynak copper mine was in November offered to the China Metallurgical Group Corporation and the contract is being finalised.

"It is estimated that the Aynak deposit has more than 11 million tonnes (of copper)," he said, citing 1960s surveys by the Soviet Union and a new study by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

"With today's prices, it contains an 88-billion-dollar deposit," he said.

and Here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/02/20/ST2008022002819.html?hpid=topnews

Once a month, Pakistan's Defense Ministry delivers 15 to 20 pages of spreadsheets to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. They list costs for feeding, clothing, billeting and maintaining 80,000 to 100,000 Pakistani troops in the volatile tribal area along the Afghan border, in support of U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

No receipts are attached.

In response, the Defense Department has disbursed about $80 million monthly, or roughly $1 billion a year for the past six years, in one of the most generous U.S. military support programs worldwide.


IT'S ABOUT BROKERING THOSE EMERGING PRIVATE CONTRACTS APPROPRIATELY--and little slushy funds everywhere. IT'S ABOUT CHINA continuing to manufacture cheap stuff (junk for the peasants of America) WHILE CONTINUING TO BUY AMERICAN DEBT PAPER.(Just how far can they NOT float yuan???)

[ohio2007]

16. sectarians won, not the Islamist parties from the Afghan border region

So if the bloodless coup leader is to be turned out of office, let the new govt make it a point of buisness...seeing as how we haven't got the billions of bangs for our billions of bucks that is.

[LynnTheDem]

17. bUsh's Amerika; putting the "mock" in "democracy" since 2000.

IGNORE the will of the people! George W. bUsh has for years!

Democracy = The Decider.

[ckramer]

22. They know it by heart that a dictator is 100% better than democracy

so long as the dictator is pro-America.

[Peace Patriot]

23. You mean "pro-Bush," don't you?

"...so long as the dictator is pro-America."

There's nothing "pro-America" about Musharaff--nor about any of the dictators that the Bushites hold hands with. And there is nothing "pro-America" about the Bush Junta. Gangsters writ large, running our government, and allying with, or "fighting," other gangsters (torturing and killing the little guys, never the mob bosses, though). And we're paying for them all to get rich beyond belief, out of our pockets. Quite a set up.

[saigon68]

26. Gangster Cheney busy counting his bribes

[tabasco]

25. This is the kind of freedom and democracy Bush wants to spread through the Mideast!

The kind where BushCo poodles are in charge forever!

[daleo]

27. He wants Pakistan to ignore the election results

Like the U.S. did, in 2000 and 2004.

Elections are just for show, not the serious business of advancing the interests of the oligarchs, wherever they may be.

[Zorra]

28. Welp, now we know for sure that Musarraf has gotta go. n/t

[LeftishBrit]

30. That should be up to the Pakistanis, not Bush

Though Bush is certainly an expert on leaders gaining and maintaining power, despite an election defeat.

[Supersedeas]

31. Condi -- do you really believe in democracy?