"A Most Dangerous Friend"

[H2O Man]

Seymour M. Hersch
Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib
Harper; 2004

VII: A Most Dangerous Friend
1. Gambling on Musharraf

There are a few important things to know about Pakistan. It is a nuclear power that harbers some of the most dedicated and potentially destabilizing anti-American Islamic activists in the world. And its president, Geberal Pervez Musharraf, is considered by the Bush Administration to be an indispensable and loyal ally in the war against terrorism -- someone who is willing to take on the mullahs. The reality is that Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup against Pakistan's elected government, in 1999, has been constantly expanding his authority over a population, an army, and an intelligence service that do not trust him or fully support him. He narrowly survived two assassination attempts in December 2003. The gravest danger to Musharraf has come from within; many of his political problems stem from the perception that he is George Bush's man. And so while he supplied tough talk on terrorism for American consumption after September 11th, he said, and did, much less at home. (page 287)

{The chapter on Pakistan in Hersch's book -- pages 287-322 -- is worth reading again, for those who are concerned about the tragic events today. I am trying to keep an open mind on who is behind this assassination, and what it could lead to. But one thing is for sure: the Bush administration is politically, intellectually, and morally incapable of adding anything positive to help restore stability in and around Pakistan. Though it is worth our discussing and debating which democratic candidate would be best suited to lead our country, it is clear that we need to work together to make sure we have democratic victories across the board in 2008.)

[SpiralHawk]

1. The K and the R

thanks, H20 man.

Commander AWOL Bush is well aware that he is in bed with a Totalitarian Twit Evil Doer (Musharraf).

Cronies of a feather flock together.

[malaise]

2. Great find H20 Man

Thanks.

K & R

[malta blue]

3. To the greatest page with you H2OMan....

Thank you for reminding us of what we already knew, but what most sheeple fail to see.

[TahitiNut]

4. Two peas in a pod: Pervez Musharraf and Hosni Mubarak

Totalitarian power - military - assassination - 'cooperative' with global corporatism.

[tom_paine]

10. Yep. The assassination of Sadat was a tremendous boon to Bushie Interests

Just like the assassinations of Kennedy, Kennedy, King, Mossadegh, Arbenz, Allende, Aquino, Sadat, Rabin, now Bhutto.

But I am sure it's all just a coincidence.

[stellanoir]

5. Hey friend

This is so sad.

Given her family history I've a very strong feeling she believed this was an inevitability. In as much as I loathe saying it, so did I. I sensed this was brewing since her return to her homeland

Because I get an NPR radio station out of Boston and she established many lovely connections at Harvard, I'm hearing some really deep and powerful reminiscences of her.

Mushareff's culpability is unquestionable IMHO, as is ours by proxy.

The fact that the firm that provided cover for Valerie Plame was tracking WMD's and was possibly on to Crashcart's connection with AQ Kahn who was running a nuclear WalMart out of Pakistan and who has facilitated both North Korea's and Iran's nuclear proliferation is perhaps worthy of our consideration.

Yikes.

These people are nutz.

[LSK]

6. Kick

[OneGrassRoot]

7. K&R n/t

[zippy890]

8. kick good points

:dem:

[MzNov]

9. K&R

Many thanks for your continuing valuable contributions H20Man.

[autorank]

11. K*R Thanks

;) Are these your Freudian slips showing... "make sure we have democratic victories..." - you mean victories based on honest elections where the democratic process results in the actual winner and the declared winner being one and the same... As usual, you're right since the democratic victories will result in Democratic victories. The task is making those victors behave like Democrats.

[Me.]

12. Slips Smips

Let's just get the republiCONS out however we can. That will be a good start.

[Me.]

13. !

:kick:

[annabanana]

14. You have done good work today, H2O Man...

Thank you for the tremendous amount of context you have provided these boards regarding the assassination of Bhutto and our history with Pakistan...

[Kurovski]

15. K&R. (nt)