Wish it was so black and white. Pakistan is slowly sliding into Islamic extremism, I see that in the educated modern so called enlightened pakistanis as well. Just take a look at our National Cricket team, you will notice a few long zealous beards, that was never seen before where smart clean shaven boys would play.

Its everywhere an dgetting worse, no need to delude ourselves, this extremism is at our doors in Swat where I had never heard of mullaism.

The day is not far when the US and NATO will have to invade Pakistan because there are two extremes in the lead in Pakistan now, one is the ultra Western free minded liberals who are taking their liberties to the extreme with baring too much skin in plays, movies and stage theaters, alcohol flows freely in the elite and sub elite parties in major cities, drugs like coke and hash are prevalent and openly consumed, the ordinary man on the street notices and the people in the conservative areas have a backlash created in their minds and that is why you have Lal masjid, these people are scared the nation is becoming obscene and blame Mush and the US for it.

We have two extremes in Pakistan and that is the problem.

The same happened in Iran a few decades ago when the Shah went for rapid modernization and the village people revolted and supported a Mullah because of fear....its fear, their wives and daughters will become bad, its a very base issue at the ground level.

The Pakistan Army would have never backed the Nov. 3rd steps only to revoke them. Hence, the judges are gone, and the lawyers/soc-called civil society left in the lurch by political parties. I believe that emergency will be lifted, elections held, major tusling to form a government and some cries of rigging, and a new government will take oath, which will endorse the Post Nov. 3 set-up. Likely Ms. Bhutto's PPP will form a weak government at the center, not because she is popular, but because a 2/3 endorsement will be needed for the Nov. 3 action. PPP+MQM will get Sind, Punjab will go to PML-Q, NWFP to JUI-F+PPP(SB)+PML-Q, and Baluchistan to JUI-F+PML-Q.

Well there is no way that deposed judges are coming back. I think the author makes a few valid points, but should understand that reinstating of these judges is never going to happen.

Interesting article. It reminds of all the false hype about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran's false nuclear programme.

Mahmud has written excellent article and I agree with him to some extent. On the other hand, some people want to be on both sides, against and in favour of musharraf. Musharraf has destroyed severely all the institutions in pakistan including ARMY, judiciary and media. Musharraf does not deserve any credit for allowing new channels as it is a new phenamonon in which even afghanistan has dozens of new channels. musharraf did not allow the free media but it is again the information highway which musharraf no way could stop it.

First time in the history of pakistan judiciary stand up to a dictator/tyrant and have their own independent judgements so, this new judiciary power can not be compared with the past.

What has happened to justice sajjad ali shah can not be condone but it can not be compared with the destruction what tyrant musharraf has inflicted upon pakistan judiciary. There is no example in world's history of purging the judges. Musharraf has crossed all norms and ethics for his own personal interests ignoring the interests of pakistan.

Musharraf has done little to erradicate terrorism instead musharraf is intrumental in flamming the terrorism within pakistan.

He has created the terrorists and treated them in such a way so, they become heros. He is total failures in fight against terrorism.

He is neither honest/loyal to pakistan nor to US. Since US has big influence within pakistan therefore, majority of pakistanis believe musharraf's illegal actions have full support from US.

Wayne a so called expert on pakistan has no idea about the people of NWFP and baluchistan. Religious parties got elected in the last election due to protest vote against US involvement in afghanistan (remember that time innocent people in afghanistan were being killed by US bombings).

Now, these religious parties have lost their support in NWFP and baluchistan. US has restored some credibility in these areas due to Anne peterson active role in pakistan.If the election is held free and fair these religious parties will not get any seats. However, remember musharraf's secret agencies are working behind the scene to manipulate and rig coming election and intentially make these religious parties to gain seats in NWFP and baluchistan.

Musharraf needs religious parties in the parliament in order to scare the west and US of possible danger of nuclear arsenals falling into the hands of terrorists.

Dear Author:

Please understand -

Not just the West, even Pakistan's neighbours are alarmed at recent developments. Perhaps more so than the West. I agree Pakistan's terrorists are not the threat: 'Pakistan' itself is.

In Pakistan, the terms 'terrorist' and 'patriot/freedom-fighter' etc. are interchangeably used, depending upon audience and events being addressed. In an absolute sense, today's 'hero' is tomorrow's 'terrorist' - I believe Musharraf was once a savior, in a world where the Bhuttos and Sharifs traded Prime-Ministership.

- Pakistan has shown the world the shameful and nightmarish scenario of a PM (Sharif) and Army Chief (you-know-who) went to war over Kargil - readied nukes for use - lost Kargil ...and are now trading accusations over who caused Kargil !!!

Your argument for 'internal stability in the immediate-term' is vacuous in the least. When a nuclear weapon state cannot decide who caused it to got to war (Kargil) or even how come its top scientist did what he did...the question is no longer of 'immediate term' .

The question therefore must be what does the world do with a nation whose society is so fractured that it cannot dispose of the maniacs sitting in their government and stabilize themselves, a whole 60 years after being formed.

Agree?

I would like to further add that any claims to the effect that those who initially oppposed Musharraf and his Martial Law have 'hidden their faces somewhere in their abodes of sands like the ostriches' are completely outside the realm of reality.

Switch on the TV, read the newspapers, or just step outside your little bubble into the streets of Pakistan. You will find security forces (as recently as *yesterday*) baton charging protesting members of civil society and student bodies around the country.

The lawyer's movement has lost none of it's zeal, but, in fact, has been reinvigorated by the words spoken to them as recently as *today* by stalwarts of the movement, such as Aitazaz Ahsan and Munir A. Malik. Both men who are *still* being held, without charge. The latter of whom is in intensive care, as a result of negligent medical care whilst in custody of our Martial Law forces.

In the past *two days* security personnel, such as the police, have yet again charged peaceful protesters and academics from LUMS (Lahore Uni. of Management Sciences) for the act of speaking against the current 'system'.

Anyone who denies the bravery of such people, and insists they have hidden their heads in the sand, is completely unaware of the reality taking place outside all our doors... Or is, in fact, lying.

Previous comments regarding the influence of the coalition of 'religious' parties (the MMA) in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and, to some extent, Balochistan, are not altogether inaccurate.

What needs to pointed out, however, is that this coalition, and it's consequent influence, is a direct result of politicking as masterminded by Pervaiz Musharraf and the King's Party, the PML(Q).

The influence of the MMA was consciously, in fact deliberately, engineered by Musharraf's camp. Consequently Musharraf is directly responsible for the Islamization of Pakistani politics to a degree that goes beyond the norms of an otherwise moderate society.

The lack of tolerance seen for any perceived liberalism and secularism in the North is a result of such policies, as is the growing trend in anti-American sentiment.

Musharraf's government is by no means the first time American government has lent support to an entity that eventually became a Frankenstein. At the very least there needs to be some realism in Washington with respect to how counter productive the system they have supported, under Musharraf, really is to their wants.

More importantly, there needs to be some acknowledgment as to how destructive such 'government' is to the *needs* of Pakistan, and it's evolution into an entity with stable democratic systems.
Where the article is spot on is in it's assertion that any threats to our nuclear arms are in peril are exaggerated, and unjustly politicized.

I agree with your comments. All politicial parties are totally failed to adopt one point agenda which is be the restoration of judiciary. Only Tehreek-i-Insaaf? Even yesterday Nawaz also raised the slogan of independence of judiciary in Muzaffarabad. At the moment all parties have strong platform to start successfull movement against emergency,pco and judges but none of them seems serious and obvoiusly the future of our country depend on these political parties and they are on wrong path so what will be the the future of this country? At least I have no trust on present courts and supreme court, and if I am a victim of any crime I might use other sources rather than Musharaff's courts.

IF AMJAD WYNE ALLOW ME TO ADD FURTHER: A new trend has been developed among the so-called scholars of Pakistan since the private Pakistani TV channels encouraged some retired " Martial Law's" product Generals, Diplomates and Beaurocrates of previous regimes to talk against Musharraf in the same tune the Western media, some congress men and American Senators like Obama and Biden were continuously harping. During this period, it has been observed that Pakistani newspapers published only those articles and materials which were being written against Musharraf and could create chaos and confusion among the masses. But surprisingly, its repercussions proved quite cotradictory. Now they have hidden their faces somewhere in their abodes of sands like the ostriches. Like the lawyers, the journalists and TV men are now after restoring their lost prestige in the society. Since the majority of Pakistani journalists and TV men are from the caste of the back benchers and employees of some individual feudal lord or industrial magnate, they seldom dare to bear the brunt of any kind of pressure. However, some self-claimed scholars, like this genleman, are still rigging on with the hope to fill up the gap created by the retired personnels, who were talking on TV channels with their notes from official files that they had written decades back in their respective offices. That was the criteria of the "Talk Shows" and Discissions of Pakistani TV Channels. The article under reference is not an article but merely an opinion of a person.

There are a number of over simplifications in this article.

Let us begin.

The West is focused on “terrorism” because that their interest. There is no logical justification for anyone to focus on anything else in Pakistan. So, the West is not ignoring, the rest is simply irrelevant.

Second, author’s argument about the red mosque and the judges is misleading. Judges were not let go because they released the terrorist but because they refused to support the PCO. As a matter of fact, this argument supports the point that there was no personal vendetta. Those who agreed to support the government were allowed to stay on even if they did not agree with the government before the PCO.

Third, the author needs to look outside his window to see if there is support for extremists in Pakistan. Many Urdu language papers called the Lal Masjid thugs as martyrs. The leading national English daily “Dawn” still calls them “miscreants”. But what exactly was the Lal Masjid...did not it house terrorist?

Fourth, so the Islamic parties are no threats, they have no votes…wrong…Who ran the government in the Frontier Province up until a couple of months ago before they screwed themselves up by fighting with each other. If Musharraf would have stepped in, the provincial government almost created the equivalent of Taliban system in Pakistan.

And finally, let me remove the wraps from the last paragraph.

How much freedom media and judges had before Musharraf came into power? Almost all new media outlets..TV and the internet in Pakistan owe their existence to Musharraf. The author should ask Chief justice Sajjad who was chased out of his office in 1997 by Nawaz Sharif’s people, who also ransacked his office. Let us be serious about the constitution…when Nawaz Sharif’s supporters chased the Chief Justice and Nawaz Sharif did not do anything, he was not holding up the constitution. When Nawaz Sharif did not allow Musharraf’s plane, he was not really following the constitution. In reality, then the constitution existed but in a violated state before Musharraf took over. And finally the dictatorship. So, how do you define this dictatorship where everyone in opposition is free to give interviews to whichever western media outlet they want to or like to. How do you define this dictatorship where everyone can say whatever comes to his/her mind about Musharraf. How do you define this dictatorship where the dictator is saying “please participate in the election” and the opposition has a list of demands beginning with “Musharraf go”. How do you define this dictatorship where all those judges who disagreed with the PCO will now have their retirement benefits…something that was not allowed to Chief Justice Sajjad. How do you define this dictatorship where every political party in Pakistan is built on real and much more radical dictatorship. Their leaders are leaders for life…not just one term or two terms. Their parties are run by families..husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters.
I am sorry to burst your bubble but think next time before you publish your dirty laundry in western media.

The Western media sells action stories and nuclear weapons falling into Alqaeda's hands is the ultimate action story, hence the Western news reports. Pakistanis need to understand thats how media works, and not pay too much attention to it.

The article is well balanced and it is true that US in particular not interested in strengthening the institutions in Pakistan.

If that was the case, US must have taken serious steps in helping restore the judiciary. Lawyers, civil society members in pakistan are really disappointed by US continuous support to tyrant musharraf who has no respect for the constitution.

This was the crtical time when US should have shown solidarity with the people of pakistan by supporting the lawyers movement and demanding the reinstatement of judiciary.

Best strategy of fighting the terrorism in pakistan is by promoting the political setup and making the people realize that US is their true friend.

musharraf has been using fear tactics to scare US and the west that nunclear arsenal will fall in the hands of terrorist.

US will realize some time in future that musharraf is no better than their former friend saddam.

Well balanced article on the whole.

The War-on-Terror really ought to be fought by the police (NOT intelligence agencies or the army) of Pakistan, USA, UK, Saudi Arabia and India. Police departments have excellent cooperation and to all of them a crime is just a crime needing good investigative skills. Intelligence agencies have other agendas, including political, so full cooperation will never be forthcoming.

Mr. Mahmud is not correct in diminishing the threat by Jihadists to Pakistan ; and cleverly
articulating an advice for the U.S. to redirect policies concerning Pakistan. I would like to point out that Musharraf's actions of imposing emergency may be a measure to keep himself in office, should not be a shocker . There has been several precedences all over in so called democracies, Egypt, Russia and eve in the U.S. curbing of civil rights, Patriot Act. and time to time raising threat levels for political ends.

A sober, thoughtful assessment of the problems facing Pakistan without the hype or hysteria found in Western press commentaries. But for all that there is a bit of wishful thinking here -- an unwillingness to stare reality in the face.

It is all very well to say that the West should worry less about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and its role as a terrorist breeding ground and do more about promoting democracy. The reality is that Pakistan is getting international attention largely because of these worries. Should these worries disappear, Pakistan would be shunted into the background, just as it was after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan.

Countries assist other nations to fulfill their own national interests. Surely Pakistan must know that. After all Pakistani ISI's deep involvement in Afghanistan during and after the Soviet invasion was designed to serve Pakistan's interests, not Afghanistan's. That is the way of the world. So it would be foolhardy to expect the major powers, which means mainly the U.S., to promote democracy in Pakistan for its own sake. No matter what its rhetoric the U.S. seems to have concluded that democracy in Pakistan is less important than the creation of sufficient stability to enable the Pakistani military to focus its resources on defeating the Taliban and Al-Qaida and on guarding the country's nuclear facilities.

The problem is that Pakistan has ceded much of its sovereignty to the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. The recent shenanigans involving the Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. can be attributed to Musharraf's efforts at trying to meet the conflicting interest of the two foreign powers who have now become Pakistan's king makers. What Pakistan will have after the dust settles is the type of democracy the U.S. can live with. That means Musharraf will be President, Bhutto will be Prime Minister, the Supreme Court will be stocked with Musharraf's appointees, and the armed forces will be ready to do U.S. bidding.

This is not a recipe for a self-sustaining democracy in the long term. But most powers do not think of the long term when they are impose their will on other countries. Think of Pakistan's interventionist policy in Afghanistan. It was a short term success but a long term disaster.

Absolutely!
Simple, straightforward and hits the nail on its head. The terror threat is a lifeline for the President. The judiciary had to be purged under one excuse of the other OR he had to go!

Neither the Pakistani Taliban nor the Afghan militants are interested to over run the Pakistani N. installations but it is the Army which has a bad reputation of brokering the interests of the state.Since the creation of this country as a Britts base against the then Soviet Union up to date it has not an independent foreign policy whether in a military or civilian rule.On the order of Americans the Military setup in Islamabad embraced hundreds thousand of illiterat afghans and trained them against the Kabul GOVT to raise their 5000 rs per month salary to billions of dollars ignoring their previous deeds of disintegration of the country where they prefered surrendering in the quantity of 98000 to owning the rest for themselves.No one forgets the drug laundering business of the military rulers of this country as a lot of them have been caught red handed in American cities.So it is not the fact that islamists are preparing to get the nuclear arsenals and in fact it is and will be the Pakistan army display it for sale whereever the price is high as it is their business and they are professional in this field.

Mr. Mahmud is correct:

…“The Western media is also mistaken regarding the possible electoral success of anti-Western Islamic groups…They have recently cashed in on anti-Western and anti-American sentiment and used it to their political advantage, but have no apparent designs to use force against the West.”…

…“Against this political backdrop, it is unlikely that anti-Western Islamic parties will find real support at the polls in the foreseeable future.”…

And Shahid Ali is correct:

…“I therefore believe that the US and west cannot afford a popular govt. in Pakistan.”…

The US does not want a democratic government in Pakistan any more that it does in Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or any of the Arabian Gulf States; and all for the same reason. A democratic government would never cow tow to the US, permitting its continued unconditional support of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and its illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Here is an interesting site glorifying the Israeli technological marvel.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/america/2007/12/israel_silicon_valley_entrepreneur.html

Yup, Israel is a technological marvel. That’s why the Israelis need to hog 80% of the Palestinian’s water supply.

http://www.fmep.org/analysis/articles/water_policy_maher.html

…“According to recommended standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), a minimum of 100 liters a day per capita are needed for balanced and healthy domestic consumption in rural households. In contrast, BâeTselem, the Israeli human rights organization, documents that Israeli per capita consumption of water already reaches 350 l/day, about five-times Palestinian consumption. Per capita consumption of water in Israeli settlements, most of which are strategically located directly above main water extraction sources, can reach even higher levels, estimated at seven-fold the Palestinian consumption rate. In contrast, Palestinian consumption rates per capita vary between 35-80 l/d, well below WHO and USAID recommendations, and in some communities, water consumption can dip to as low as 7 l/d under certain conditions…”

So Israel confiscates most of the West Bank water, to the point that Palestinians there do not even have what the UN and the US government both regard as the minimum necessary to sustain human life, while Jewish settlers - accustomed to living in their native Europe or America - water grass lawns and fill swimming pools with water taken from under the feet of the Palestinians, while the Palestinians are rarely allowed to drill wells.

So you Israelis go ahead and live well at the expense of your oppressed neighbors on your stolen land. My government will guarantee the continuation of your illegal existence and fund your atrocious behavior with billions of my tax dollars. Live long and prosper, until the world wakes up and puts a stop to your despicable treatment of the rightful owners of your stolen land.

to anonymous: A nice comment,worth to read:

"This article is a sweet sleeping pill for the Americans. They can now better sleep and wind up the Pentagon altogether so that the people of the world can get a sigh of relief.

I could not trace out the slightest touch of scholarship in this article except scattering lies in the air without weights but larger in volume. He perhaps, does not know that JUI and JI had formed the coalition government in NWFP and JUI had dominant hand in Baluchistan. They will again get comfortable seats to win the election. One thing must have to be kept in mind that the area of both the provinces is larger than the area of Punjab and Sind if combind together. Terrorism was germinated in Pakistan and the real cause was the patronage by certain elements to grab power to rule over a large area. "

December 5, 2007 12:53 PM

This article is a sweet sleeping pill for the Americans. They can now better sleep and wind up the Pentagon altogether so that the people of the world can get a sigh of relief.

I could not trace out the slightest touch of scholarship in this article except scattering lies in the air without weights but larger in volume. He perhaps, does not know that JUI and JI had formed the coalition government in NWFP and JUI had dominant hand in Baluchistan. They will again get comfortable seats to win the election. One thing must have to be kept in mind that the area of both the provinces is larger than the area of Punjab and Sind if combind together. Terrorism was germinated in Pakistan and the real cause was the patronage by certain elements to grab power to rule over a large area.

Good try but it won't work. we know that there is a very dangerous threat coming from Afghanistan and the terrorist or Islamists or radicals, no matter how you call them, are gaining ground. This fact is enough to worry not only Westerners but also many Moslem governments.The threat that this success of Taliban may spread to Central Asia in the future is another dangerous threat. Newaz and Bhutto are known thieves and they cannot wipe out what Musharaf did in the Red mosque.One cannot say that those who are anti-Westeren Islamists represent a certain percentage or that they are called terrorist by certain part of the population in way to show that the threat from such group is minimal. It is also a mistake to say that Islamist are the only people who are anti-Westerners.

What difference does it make? Pakistan is a 100% Islamic, intolerant nation which has killed and/or driven off almost all non-Muslims out.
Its most significant contribution to its neighbors and all of humanity is violence and terrror (Taliban, 9/11, ethnic cleansing in Kashmir, attacks in London.....).

I appreciate the author's call to more clear-headed thinking, as well as his return to the true crux of the current Pakistan dilemma, namely freedom of speech, balance in govt powers, and fair elections.

I think the 'global war on terror' has been used as a smokescreen to hide from true domestic reforms needing our attention.

Bravo, Mr. Mahmud.

overall at high level, got to agree with this author.

I do not know internal development and politics of Pakistan, but article appears to be balance and reflects sober judgment of the situation in the country. It appears to me that the loud emphasis on the terrorists in Pakistan as seen in the U.S. media, like the Washington Post, is done for domestic political purposes.

First, I totally agree and strongly endorse your political assesment. However, do you think this is what the west and particularly the US does not understand? I don't think. I'm sure they are smart and understand each and everything about Pakistan. They even know more than any high Pakistani official knows about Pakistan. I therefore believe that the US and west cannot afford a popular govt. in Pakistan. An elected govt. that reflects the wishes and sentiments of people cannot justify the relentelss actions of the west to who they represent. West and US cannot afford and does not want institutional stability in Pakistan. If there is strong judiciary, then unjustified actions of Pak army in support of west shall be hled to accountbility. The history is evident that US has never been friend of Pakistani people, but creator, supporter and promoter of military dictators which is obvious because these dictators are not accountable to anyone. They can do any black and white stuff for the west and no one shall dare ask them why? Then, why would west and US bother about democracy, institutional stability and prosperity in Pakistan. US is well aware of the negligble extent and threat posed by radicals in Pakistan. An overwhelming majority in Pakistan detest and reject these radical elements and are ready to even completely eliminate these elements. But if these elements are completely eliminated then how can Pak army justify its massive existence and the 60% national budget that they eat away every year. To sum, Pakistani people love America and American People and vice n versa. US administration love Pak army and vice and versa.

an excellent and well written piece. i agree in all regards.