Pakistan: The Clinton Coup

That's how Musharaff got into power!

The Clinton's APPROVED of his INSTALLATION!"Back in Pakistan, Sharif Condemns Musharraf" by JANE PERLEZISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 26 — As prime minister in the 1990s, Nawaz Sharif was a religiously conservative, nationalist leader who allowed the Taliban to flourish in Afghanistan and detonated a nuclear weapon despite an American plea not to. Yeah, with ISI and CIA help!!!!Now Mr. Sharif is seen by the Bush administration as a wild card who could complicate its support for the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Sharif is best remembered here and in Washington as the leader who brought the world a nuclear Pakistan, flirted with war with India and forged strong ties with religious conservatives. His tenure was marred by charges of rampant corruption and by confrontations with the courts and the media as well.Mr. Sharif’s return to Pakistan now is likely to stir deep unease in the Bush administration. Nonetheless, Washington appears to have taken a back seat, or at least a stance of resignation at the inevitable, as the Saudis, perhaps Pakistan’s most revered ally, engineered the return of Mr. Sharif. Which means this a big fooley, and Sharif is being viewed as an acceptable candidate! As opposed to Bhutto, whose overt western ties have obviously made her unelectable and unsellable to the average Pakistani.Not least, Mr. Sharif’s return complicates the Bush administration’s support for Benazir Bhutto, another former prime minister and opposition leader, whom Washington has favored as a more secular politician, and a more certain partner against Islamic extremists.Officials in Washington and London promoted her return from exile in October as a way to put a friendlier face on General Musharraf’s increasingly unpopular military regime.Except that the average Paki didn't buy it for a minute!While Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Sharif are known to detest the general, they detest each other as well. Talk about fractured politics! All the elites hate each other! So unlike AmeriKa!Mr. Sharif is the son of a wealthy industrialist and a protégé of the military dictator Gen. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, a leader who also favored a conservative strain of Islam.As prime minister twice — from 1990 to 1993 and from 1997 to 1999 — he is remembered by Pakistanis as the leader who decided to test Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in response to India’s nuclear tests in 1998. It was an immensely popular decision among Pakistanis, and ever since Mr. Sharif has been remembered as the leader who stood up to the world and showed off Pakistan’s nuclear prowess.But that step won him little favor in Washington. President Clinton tried to persuade Mr. Sharif to hold back, appealing to his vanity with an offer of a state dinner at the White House and to his country’s pocket with billions of dollars in aid.So we have been shoveling billions into Pakistan for HOW LONG?For some secular Pakistanis, Mr. Sharif’s return forebodes a strengthening of the religious right, which already has more seats in Parliament than when he was prime minister.“For me this is a fight between Wahhabism and secular values,” said Fasih Ahmed, 30, a businessman from Mr. Sharif’s political base in Lahore, in a reference to the conservative strain of Islam favored by Saudi Arabia. “Nawaz is extremely close to the religious right.” This is the alternative to our guys? Or is he one of our guys, sent back by Saudi (at our request). Think about it: If we told Saudi no, would they have sent him back?Mr. Sharif displayed his religious leanings during his second term when he tried to introduce Shariah, Islamic law, with a bill that gave the prime minister, and not the courts, the power to enforce religious edicts.The legislation passed the lower house. But the bill ultimately failed in the Senate despite unusual visits by religious leaders, organized by Mr. Sharif’s political party, to the Senate chamber to press members for its passage. I don't know if the U.S. can trust this guy. He wanted Shariah Law, huh?The Sharif government was not known as a friend of the news media, either. In an effort to squelch a newspaper that was critical of Mr. Sharif, Najam Sethi, editor in chief of The Daily Times, was arrested in the middle of the night from his home in 1999 by government agents, gagged, held for almost a month, and threatened with charges of tax evasion and sedition. At the time, Mr. Sethi had written about Mr. Sharif’s “obsession with total power.” Oh, no wonder there was a coup by Musharaff! U.S. couldn't have put up with this guy!For Washington, the pivotal encounter with Mr. Sharif came with the tense meeting between Mr. Sharif and President Clinton on July 4, 1999. The episode involved the possibility of nuclear war over the escalation of the conflict between Pakistan and India in May 1999 in the contested area of Kashmir.Pakistani-backed Kashmir militants and regular army units had advanced into an area known as Kargil, a remote part of the Himalayas. The forces had gained significant tactical control and were threatening India’s traditional positions.There was “disturbing information about Pakistan preparing its nuclear arsenal for possible use,” wrote Mr. Riedel, the National Security Council official who was with Mr. Clinton at the talks, and wrote a published account afterward.Mr. Sharif had appealed to Mr. Clinton for help and rushed to Washington on short notice, according to Mr. Riedel, because he was unsure of his standing with the army, which was led by General Musharraf, the man Mr. Sharif had picked for the job.The prime minister himself was afraid that the army’s actions in Kashmir would start a war with India, said Mr. Riedel, who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.In Washington, Mr. Sharif was actually greeted at Dulles airport by the Saudi ambassador at the time, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who was asked by President Clinton to weigh in with the prime minister, who appeared worried for his life, Mr. Riedel wrote. But as the talks got under way, Mr. Sharif was initially unforthcoming with Mr. Clinton about how to solve the situation.Mr. Clinton became angry, complaining that Pakistan had promised but failed to bring Osama bin Laden to justice from Afghanistan, Mr. Riedel recounted. Mr. Sharif had allowed Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s main intelligence agency, to work with the Taliban to foment terrorism, Mr. Clinton told him.Look at them rewrite history and Clinton's involvement in helping "Al-CIA-Duh." Clinton SHEPARDED the tool BUSH USED in 2001 throughout the '90s, readers. Don't be fooleyed by the NYT's revisionism!The president got specific about the nuclear threat: “Did Sharif order the Pakistani nuclear missile force to prepare for action? Did he realize how crazy that was?” Mr. Clinton effectively asked, according to Mr. Riedel. “You’ve put me in the middle today, set the U.S. up to fail and I won’t let it happen. Pakistan is messing with nuclear war.”Mr. Sharif denied that he had ordered the preparation of the nuclear weapons, Mr. Riedel said.By the end of the discussions, Mr. Sharif agreed to order his army to pull back its men and its allies and “to do the right thing for Pakistan and the world,” Mr. Riedel said. But, “he was not sure his army would see it that way.”Three months later, it was clear the army did not agree, and Mr. Sharif was out of his job. The CLINTON COUP in Pakistan, folks! COULD IT BE ANY MORE OBVIOUS?!In October, Mr. Sharif tried to move against General Musharraf by denying the general’s plane permission to land in Pakistan on its return from a trip to Sri Lanka. The military rebelled and opened the airport in Karachi, and General Musharraf had Mr. Sharif arrested and put in jail.That's how Musharaff became OUR GUY!In a footnote to the saga, Mr. Riedel recounts that Mr. Clinton urged General Musharraf not to execute Mr. Sharif as General Zia had executed Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, father of Benazir Bhutto, in 1979.“With our encouragement, the Saudis pressed hard for Sharif’s freedom,” Mr. Riedel said, and finally in December 2000 he was sent into exile to the kingdom, from where he has now returned."I told you! Saudi acts for US!"Musharraf to quit as chief of Pakistani Army; Embattled leader to take oath as civilian president" by Sadaqat Jan/Associated Press November 27, 2007ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by the 1999 coup that put Musharraf in power, appealed for support from Pakistanis unhappy with Musharraf's US alliance, portraying himself as a politician who kept himself at arms length from Washington in contrast to the US-friendly stance of the president and the other key opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto.Playing games of political fooleys!Spokesman Rashid Qureshi said Musharraf would make "farewell visits" to his troops before ending a military career that began in 1964. Musharraf planned to promote his anointed successor, General Ashfaq Kayani, to the military chief's post tomorrow, the aide said. That's our guy in charge of the army, too!Pakistan: Yesterday and Today"General Kayani is a moderate, pro-American infantry commander who is widely seen as commanding respect within the army and, within Western circles, as a potential alternative to General Musharraf."Addressing supporters, Sharif sought to distinguish himself from Musharraf, who is criticized by many Pakistanis as a stooge of the Bush administration. Sharif said that as premier he ignored US advice not to conduct the nuclear test explosions that made Pakistan a nuclear power in 1998."I never took dictation and made the country a nuclear power, but they [Musharraf's government] take dictation on every issue," Sharif said from the top of a truck carrying him in a triumphant procession from Lahore airport.Such nationalist posturing could entice some voters away from Bhutto, who has wooed America, Pakistan's biggest sponsor, by suggesting she might let US troops strike at Osama bin Laden if he is located on Pakistani territory. That's why Bhutto is discredited in Paki eyes!Sharif is also a threat to the ruling party, most of whose leading figures broke away from his Pakistan Muslim League after Musharraf's 1999 coup. However, there was no immediate mass defection back to the Sharif fold and he has little time to organize a strong slate of candidates." Oh, so Sharif stands no chance in the rigged elections to be held.

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