August 19, 2008, - 1:54 pm
The Musharraf Template & Jimmy Carter W. Bush: How to Get Screwed by America by Supporting America
By Debbie Schlussel
Unfortunately, yesterday’s resignation of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was not the conclusion of the Bush Administration’s major screw-up in Pakistan.
It’s only the latest nadir. And things will get far worse. Extremist Muslims will take over. It’s not a question of if, but whether sooner or later. And I vote, sooner. Look for Iran II, Ayatollah Khomeini-takeover-style.
Musharraf’s resignation is a major symbol of the Condi Clueless/Bush policy of screwing those who help America. The interracial foreign policy folly couple of Bush and Rice have left us so many souvenirs of how to screw up the world . . . and screw your allies. I wrote about this, late last year, when many clueless, ignorant, and prominent conservatives were all teary-eyed over the death of Benazier Bhutto, whom they mistakenly seemed to believe would be the savior of Pakistan and eradicator of terrorism there (even though she was a proud supporter of the Taliban and all forms of Islamic terrorism).
When we look back at Musharraf’s years, we see a Prime Minister caught between an extremist Muslim population that dominates his country and the pressure from Americans with whom he, as one of the few true (but largely powerless given his radical population) Muslim allies of America, sided. Musharraf basically committed political suicide in his own country by siding with the Great Satan, in opposition to the pro-Bin Laden populus over which he presided.
And Bush and Rice and company rewarded him by forcing free elections upon him, forcing him to appoint a Prime Minister who was a political opponent , and forcing him to take back into his country two exiled criminals–Benazir Bhutto and her husband–whose goal was to unseat him. Musharraf complied under the extreme American pressure to all of these demands. Then, when Bhutto failed to take over and was instead assassinated, how did America repay Musharraf yet again? By putting more pressure on him and by not supporting him.
True, Musharraf was not the greatest counterterrorist on earth, and came to power in a coup from an Army he headed, which was dominated by the pro-Bin Laden I.S.I. But he was the best ally we could ever hope for–and now do not have–in shaky Pakistan. Way to go.
Now, Musharraf resigns and he is a testament to any precarious leader–particularly in the Muslim world–of what America will do to you if you help America, of what the Americans will put you through if you support America in the war on terror against the wishes of your own population: America will ruin you.
Guh-reat message. Thanks, President Jimmy Carter W. Bush and Condi Clueless.
With free elections creating HAMASastan in Gaza; with rewarding and paying off Fatah terrorists in the rest of the Palestinian authority with American taxes for mortgages, business startups, and more; with the neglect of the situation in Lebanon (other than to push for freer elections to help Hezbollah gain power); with the constant do-nothingness and empty threats vis-a-vis Iran, while the country continues its nuclear aspirations; with the expansion and completion of the Shi’ite crescent and accompanying revival by our handing over Iraq to Shi’ite extremists allied with Iran; with the neglect of the Soviet renaissance via attacks on Georgia; and now with the Shah-like, Carter-esque ushering out of Musharraf in Pakistan for radicals to fill his void, aren’t you glad the Bush foreign policy is “prevailing”?
When America has Bush and Condi Clueless dithering with its foreign policy, who needs enemies?
T Minus Four Months. Not soon enough. It’ll only get worse under the next guy, but they helped get the ball rolling.
Yup, if I’m a leader of a country who’s considering an alliance with America, I look at Musharraf’s demise and say, thanks but no thanks, W.
An unfortunate example of the perils of affirmative action. When Rice messed up the Middle East, some people excused her because the Mideast was not her speciality. Now she and Bush messed up Georgia, and this involves Russia, which is her specialty. Obviously her vaunted expertise in Russia, too, was an affirmative action scam.
Pakistan, Georgia, Israel, Taiwan, and meanwhile Bush sits there at the Olympics — fiddling while Rome burns. It takes more than words to fix these problems. Words need to be accompanied by actions. We downsized our military forces and military aid all over the world in the last 20 years, Republicans and Democrats both. Now we are reaping the whirlwind of this. obviously we have to project a stronger military presence around the world, to cope with Pakistan, Georgia, Mideast, Eastern Europe, etc., along with whoever will join us.
The only thing we have going for us is that our system of government is inherently better than those of our enemies, and over time, if we survive, this could be a factor, but this is a long-term consideration, and will not help us short term.
It drives me crazy to hear conservatives just talking about Edwards’ sex life, or other issues of that sort, while our enemies are picking up strength all around the world.
c f on August 19, 2008 at 2:31 pm