Last rash act of a power loving general
Musharraf said that he brought in emergency rule because of terrorism, but this is nonsense. True, there has been a suicide attack almost every day for weeks, and militants have moved into the previously peaceful Swat valley in the North West Frontier Province.
But his unmistakeable target was the judges and courts. Why else would he send soldiers to seal off the Supreme Court while it was sitting and the houses of the Chief Justice and other key lawyers, as well as those of the heads of the main political parties and the state broadcasting and radio stations? The Supreme Court was due to rule this week on whether Musharraf's reelection last month was legitimate, while he remained head of the Army. The ruling may well have gone against him; when he preempted that decision this weekend, seven of the eleven justices refused to back him, on penalty of being sacked.
Benazir Bhutto threatens demonstrations as police use teargas on lawyers
naturally the big question for us in the west is: what is worse? a Pakistan with Musharraf, or one without? if he stays in power and starts making sure that he is able to do so for a long time, more and more people will turn towards extremism. in the end there might only be radical politicians to take over the power-vacuum of Musharraf, and we got a new state hostile to most of the western ideology. if he steps down, we will see alot of instability for the next few years, but at least there is a bigger chance of a positive outcome in the end.
Bin Laden declares war on President Musharraf
the extremists in Pakistan have one agenda at the moment, to make it look like Musharraf is their enemy, thus making the west believe that Musharraf is the enemy of their enemies. this would cause the western world to support him into a downward spiral which will bring Pakistan into a hell close to the one we are seeing in Iraq. lets hope that people are bright enough to see that this guy has no support among the people, and should be exchanged for someone who does.