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Today's
Stories
March 20, 2008
Millet / Toussaint
The
Triple Falling of the Big Private Banks
Mike Whitney
Winding
Up Bear
March 19, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
A
War of Lies
Robert Fisk
The Little Men and the Inferno
Jeff Taylor
Five Years of War in Iraq
Ed Ruggero
From Pinkville to Iraq: the Dark Anniversary of My Lai
Ron Jacobs
Who'll Stop the Rain?
Christopher
Fons
Obama Takes the Race Bait
Sherwood Ross
In Defense of Rev. Wright
Cynthia McKinney
An Urgent Crisis: Confronting America's Racial Disparities
Joshua Frank
The Kool-Aid That Kills
Robert Weissman
Monsanto's Genetic Food Gamble
Walter Brasch
It's a Welfare State--If You're Rich
Yifat Susskind
Iraqi Women Resist the Occupation
Andrew Wimmer
War Demands Its Due
Website of
the Day
Glimpses of Nature
March 18, 2008
David Price
The
Military "Leveraging" of Cultural Knowledge
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
Collapse of American Power
Tim Wise
Of National Lies and Racial America: Jeremiah Wright, Barack
Obama and the Unacceptability of Truth
Patrick Cockburn
One of the Most Disastrous Wars Ever Fought
Conn Hallinan
Afghanistan, a River Running Backward
James T. Phillips
Monsters: Past, Present and Wannabe
Uri Avnery
The Killing in Bethlehem
David Macaray
Could Wal-Mart Revive the Labor Movement?
Marjorie Cohn
Beware an Attack on Iran
Peter Zinn
Obama in New Orleans
Dan La Botz
The Economic Crisis, Labor and the Left
Monica Benderman
Where are We Going?
March 17, 2008
Pam Martens
The
Fed's Wall Street Dilemma
Sasan Fayazmanesh
The US, Iran and the Policy of Dual Containment
Nelson P. Valdés
The Imperial Branding of Simon Bolivar and the Cuban Revolution
Peter Morici
The Corrosive Consequences of the Trade Deficit
Wajahat Ali
Disrobing the Nine: a Conversation with Jeffrey Toobin on the
Supreme Court Since 9/11
Ronnie Cummins
Beyond Progressive Malpractice: Taking Down Big Pharma
Shaun Harkin
Saint Patrick's Day in Fortress America
Ali Khan
No Pardon for Musharraf
Robert Jensen
Beyond Peace
P. Sainath
Oh, What a Lovely Waiver!
Greg Moses
Jeremiah was a Bullhorn
Dr. Susan Block
Advice for Eliot Spitzer
Website of the Day
No Cowboys
March 15 /
16, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
How
to Destroy a Country in Five Years
Mike Whitney
Bearly
Alive: Investment Giant Rushed to ICU by Panicky Fed Chief
Ralph Nader
Of
Laws and Men
Robert Pollin
It's Still the Economy, Stupid
Diane Christian
The Poetics of Perversity: From Boccaccio to Spitzer
Wajahat Ali
Faking the Hood: a Conversation with Ishmael Reed
Tom Wright
/
Therese Saliba
Rachel Corrie's Case for Justice
Alan Farago
Back to Florida: Where Bushtime Began
Greg Moses
Raiding the Family Room in Texas
Michael Hudson
A Grand Global Bargain?
Martha Rosenberg
Why Hillary's Favorite Chicken Company is Eying China
John Goekler
Fourth Generation Warfare in a Fifth Generation Conflict
Uzma Aslam
Khan
A Letter to Barack Obama: Where's the Change, Barack?
Oren Ben-Dor
The Silencing of Gilad Atzmon
David Underhill
Mammon, Morals and the Mobile Tanker Deal
Fred Gardner
The Education of Eliot Spitzer
David Michael
Green
Why Spitzer Should Have Resigned (and Why He Shouldn't Have)
Rev. William E. Alberts
Jesus, Entombed in Heaven
Gail Dines
It's All About the John: Prostitution and Male Power
David Yearsley
Conducting, Anarchy and the Problem of When to Begin
Chris Clarke
Walking with Zeke: the Luckiest of Dogs
Poets' Basement
Anderson, Lodge & Subiet
Website of
the Day
Deviant Art
March 14, 2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
Watching
the Dollar Die
Don Santina
Vichy
Democrats: Pelosi and the Politics of Collaboration
Patrick Cockburn
Iraqi
Mother Vows Revenge on US: How She Lost Her Husband and Her Sons
Tim Rinne
StratCom
Rules! The Next War Will Start in Nebraska
Robert Fantina
In
Torture We Trust
Saul Landau
Letter
to the Presidents-in-Waitings
David Macaray
Common
Myths About Labor Unions
Franklin Lamb
Is
the Bush Administration Switching Horses in Lebanon
Michael Neumann
The
One State Illusion: Reply to My Critics
March 13, 2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
Republicans
and "Free Market" Zealots Bring Disaster to America
Mike Whitney
Meltdown
Looms Larger As Credit Markets Freeze
Assaf Kfoury
"One-State
or Two State?"- Sterile Debate on False Alternatives
Andy Worthington
Afghan
Hero Who Died in Guantánamo: The Background to the Story
Adam Federman
From
Autopia to Autogeddon: Cars Reach the End of the Road
March 12, 2008
Dave Lindorff
Bringing
Down Spitzer: It's the Big Brother Who Should Bother US
R.F. Blader
The
Spitzer Backlash
Yonatan Mendel
How
to be an Israeli Journalist. Never Write "Murder" or
"Palestine"
Jonathan Cook
One
State or Two? Neither. The Issue is Zionism
Bill and Kathy
Christison
Fallon
and Gates -- At Least One Cheer
James J. Brittain
Was
the U.S. Involved in Killing the FARC-EP Leaders
Ron Jacobs
"All
the Money You Make Will Never Buy Back Your Soul"
March 11, 2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
How
to End the Subprime Crisis
Ed O'Loughlin
How
Israeli Troops Invade Homes in Gaza, Brutalize, Smash and Steal
Ramzy Baroud
'Unwavering
Commitment' to Inequality
Kathy Christison
One
State or Two? The Debate Over Israel and Palestine
China Hand
PRC
Plays it Cool, as U.S. Tries to Amp Up Pressure on Iran
John Joslin
Thank
You, Nafta! Welcome to Weirton, Home of the Discount Cigarette
Mike Averko
Serb
Politics, Kosovo and the Moscow-Washington Divide
Ben Rosenfeld
Gavin
Newsom's Kneejerk Plan
Thierry Paquot
High
Rise, Low Spirits:The Curse of the Tower Block
March 10, 2008
Uri Avnery
"Kill
A Hundred Turks and Rest": The Five-Day War in Gaza
Col. Dan Smith
Scoring
the "Surge" and What Lies Beyond
R.F. Blader
Why
"Lock Them Up and Throw Away the Key" is Losing its
Sheen
Michael Neumann
The
One-State Illusion: More is Less
Bob Fitrakis
and Harvey Wasserman
Did
the Republicans Give Hillary Her Victory in Ohio?
James J. Brittain
Anti-Uribe
Protests in Colombia and the World
Missy Comley
Beattie
The
Passion of John McCain
March 8-9,
2008 Weekend Edition
JoAnn Wypijewski
The
Only Way to Fight the Clintons
Mike Whitney
Sorting
Through the Rubble in Post Bubble America
Peter Morici
Fed
and Treasury Fiddle as Economy Plummets
Ralph Nader
The
Silent Violence of Gaza's Suffering that Candidates Ignore
Jonathan Cook
The
Meaning of Gaza's Shoah
Steve Niva
Behind
the Israeli Escalation in Gaza
Bill and Kathy
Christison
Crisis
over Teheran's Alleged Nuclear Plans Nearing Climax
Hervé
Do Alto and Franck Poupeau
Bolivia:
Morales is Checked
Eric Walberg
To
Leave and Stay at the Same Time: Putin to Medvedev to…?
Scott Johnson
City
of A Thousand Foreclosures
Mark Scaramella
James
Brown's Gate
Bill Clinton
President
Clinton's Remarks on Naming William M. Daley as NAFTA Task Force
Chairman
Poet's Basement
St.
Thomasino, Engel, Davies and Willson
Website of
the Weekend
Hillary
Blackens Barack
March 7, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
Why
Iraq Could Blow-Up in John McCain's Face
Robin Blackburn
Question
for Barrack Obama: Why Afghanistan is the 'Right War'?
Saul Landau
The
Stupid Economy
Binoy Kampmark
When
Competition is Good: McCain and the Muddled Democrats
Chris Floyd
Crushing
the Ants: Admiral Fallon and His Empire
Andy Worthington
Spanish
Drop "Inhuman" Extradition Request for Guantánamo
Britons
Will Potter
Before
the Smoke Even Clears in Seattle: Bringing Out the T Word
March 6, 2008
March 6, 2008
Vincent Navarro
The
Next Failure of Health Reform
Forrest Hylton
High Stakes in the Andes: Colombia's Cornered President
Peter Morici
Why the Dollar is So Cheap
George Ciccariello-Maher
Counter-Attack of the Bureaucrats
John Ross
Taxi! Taxi! The Dark Side of the Oscars
Jacob Hornberger
No Standing to Lecture on Justice
Paul Watson
Illegal Japanese Whaling by the Numbers
Dan Bacher
Off the Deep End
Website of the Day
A Katrina Reader Online
March 5, 2008
Cockburn /
St. Clair
A
Great Day for John McCain (and Maybe Nader)
Joanne Mariner
After Guantanamo
Fidel Castro
The Raid on Ecuador: Underestimating Rafael Correa
Christopher
Brauchli
The Turkish Invasions
Steven Sherman
Obama and the Prospects for a Renewal of the Left
Dave Lindorff
Busting Bush & Co. in New England
James Murren
Bombing Somalia
Adam Engel
Necropolis Now
Website of Day
Remember Song
March 4, 2008
Wajahat Ali
Mumbo
Jumbo: Naming Names with Ishmael Reed
William Blum
How Could Hillary Have Known?
Bill Quigley
The Cleansing of New Orleans
Ralph Nader
The Prince Harry Solution
Patrick Irelan
Oil and Health in Venezuela
James J. Brittain
/
R. James Sacouman
Uribe's Colombia is Destabilizing a New Latin America
Norman Solomon
The War Election
Jacob Hornberger
Hillary in Waco: the Missing Apology
Andy Worthington
Guantánamo and the European Parliament
Mike Averko
Kosovo and the Press
Website of the Day
Tex-Mex Primary
March 3, 2008
Jennifer Loewenstein
Gazan Holocaust
Alan Farago
American Politics and the Faltering Economy
Richard Gott
Colombian Deaths in Ecuador
Wajahat Ali
Who Speaks for a Billion Muslims? Analyzing the World Gallup
Poll with John Esposito
Paul Craig Roberts
The Mukasey Conspiracy: a Bi-Partisan Attack on the Constitution
Robert Weissman
When Multinationals Say Adieu
Uri Avnery
Good Morning, Hamas
Martha Rosenberg
When Your Meat is a Downer
Eva Liddell
Leave the Next Dance for Bill
Michael Donnelly
Will Ferrell Does Flint
Website of the Day
Muddy Waters: Train Fare Home Blues
March 1 / 2,
2008
Alexander Cockburn
The
Race Card
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
Political Trial of Don Siegelman
Kathleen and Bill Christison
Nader the Best Antidote to American Imperialism
Nelson P. Valdés
Cuba After Fidel
Christopher Brauchli
Meet Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev: Friend of Bill, George and Dick
Ron Jacobs
Inside the Secret City: Bomb Making at Oak Ridge
John Ross
The New Conquistadores: Spain's Reconquest of Mexico
Robert Fantina
Posturing Over Patriotism: Obama and Those Lapel Pins
Robert Weissman
Hidden in Plain Sight: Human Rights Hypocrisy
Mohammed Omer
Fear in Gaza
Remi Kanazi
Barack Obama and the Politics of Xenophobia
Bob Jackson
Why is Yellowstone Destroying Its Bison Herd?
Richard Rhames
Casual Threats: Loaded with Mercury
Franklin Lamb
Lebanon Awaits the Arrival of the USS Cole
Rannie Amiri
Showboat Diplomacy: US Warships Steam Toward Lebanon
David Michael
Green
The Three Faces of Hillary: the Politics of Flim-Flam
Conn Hallinan
Notes from the Southern Cone
Faheem Hussain
Prince Harry of Afghanistan and the Meaning of Normalcy
Poets' Basement
Gibbons, Orloski, Gardner and Ford
Website of
the Weekend
The Palestine Chronicle Needs (and Deserves) Your Help!
February 29,
2008
Matt Gonzalez
The
Obama Craze
Jonathan Cook
Academic Freedom? Not for Arabs in Israel
Joshua Frank
Obama and Israel
Anthony DiMaggio
The Unilateral Presidency: Signing Statements and the Rollback
of American Law
Linn Washington, Jr.
Cop Abuse in America
Binoy Kampmark
Hubris and Nemesis
Robert Bryce
Energy Efficiency May be a Good Thing, But It Won't Cut Energy
Use
Sonja Karkar
Australia's Government Continues Its Love Affair with Israel
Dave Lindorff
A Manchurian Candidate in the White House? Obama or Bush?
Website of
the Day
Olduvai George
February 28,
2008
Patrick Cockburn
"Iraq"
Falls Apart
Fred Gardner
The Birth of NAFTA
Michael Levitin
The Crisis in Kosovo is Just Beginning
William S.
Lind
The Fake State of Kosovo
David Macaray
A Ray of Hope for Organized Labor
Stephen Fleischman
Nader's Latest Run: Monkey Wrench or Cattle Prod?
George Wuerthner
The Myths of Forest Health: Why Ecological Logging is an Oxymoron
Laura Carlsen
The North American Union Farce
Carl Finamore
Why the Delta-Northwest Deal Hasn't Taken Off
Michael Dickinson
The Day I Bombed the House of Commons
Website of the Day
Plane Stupid
February 27,
2008
David Rosen
Playing
the Race Card: Obama, Love Across the Color Line and Political
Dirty Tricks
Vijay Prashad
Bomber John: McCain and the 100 Year War
Harvey Wasserman
Incident at Turkey Point: Did Florida Go to the Radioactive Brink?
Andy Worthington
Guantánamo's Shambolic Trials: Pentagon Boss Resigns,
Ex-Prosecutor Joins Defense
Wajahat Ali
Pakistan for Sale: an Interview with Ayesha Siddiqa on Pakistan's
Military Economy
Peter Morici
The Auction-Rate Securities Fiasco: a Drama of Greed and Betrayal
Stephen Philion
Conspiracy Theory, Fears of Betrayal and Today's Anti-War Movement
Michael Donnelly
Obama by Unanimous Decision
Erica Rosenberg /
Janine Blaeloch
After the Land Deals: Will There
be Any Wilderness Left to Protect?
Website of
the Day
Dress Blues
February 26,
2008
Debbie Nathan
Confessions
of a Gitmo Guard
Alan Dershowitz
v. Frank Menetrez
On Finkelstein
Harvey Wasserman
How Ohio Got Nuked
Michael Colby
Ralph Nader vs. the Fundamentalist Liberals
Gary Leupp
Condi vs. Putin on Bullying Belgrade
David Orchard
The New Conquistadors: Canada in Afghanistan
Martha Rosenberg
The Big HRT
Fran Shor
The Electoral Circus and Nader's Sideshow
Serge Halimi
The Dom Perignon Socialist Manifesto: Bernard Henri-Levy's Plan
for the French Left
Global Balkans
Neo-Liberalism and Protectorate States in the Post-Yugoslav Balkans:
an Interview with Tariq Ali
Website of
the Day
Texistentialism
February 25,
2008
Roger Morris
A
Death in Damascus
Anthony DiMaggio
Military
Bases, the Media and the Democrats
Ralph Nader
Why I'm Running
Patrick Cockburn
Iraq Broils
Paul Craig Roberts
Kosovo and the Empire Crazies
Peter Morici
Bernanke's Failing Policies: a Long Recession Looms
Dave Lindorff
General Welch's Whitewash: What We Still Don't Know About That
Minot Nuke Incident
Saul Landau
/
Farrah Hassen
Fanatics, Mountebanks and Drillers: a Bloody Oil Film
Heather Gray
James Orange, Civil Rights Legend
Robert Weitzel
Accomodating Torture
John Halle
Kucinich Goes Down
Website of the Day
Do the Trunk Monkey!
February 23 / 4, 2008
Alexander Cockburn
The
Mushrooming Clouds That Hang Over McCain
Paul Craig
Roberts
Obama
and Global Trade
Wajahat Ali
Omissions of the Commission: an Interview with Phillip Shenon
on the 9/11 Commission
Ralph Nader
Neutering the FDA
Jürgen
Vsych
"What Was Ralph Nader Thinking?"
Fidel Castro
Watching the US Presidential Campaign from Havana
Andy Worthington
Britain's Guantánamo
David Macaray
Unions Under Assault
Jeremy Scahill
The Real Story Behind Kosovo's Independence
David Krieger
Stanley Sheinbaum
Caging the Cold War Monster
Ron Jacobs
Building for the Future
Michael Garrity
The Last, Best Hope for the Northern Rockies
Brian McKenna
Higher Ed's "Civic Engagements" Get Dumbed Down
Missy Beattie
Over the Hill with John McCain
Fred Gardner
American College of Physicians Takes Pro-Cannabis Stand (Mostly)
Boris Kagarlitsky
The Growth of the Russian Labor Movement
Mike Ferner
Kick That Barrel
Dan Bacher
On the Trail with the Border Angels
Christopher
Ketcham
Hillary Goes Where Obama Fears to Tread
Poets' Basement
Davies and Buknatski
Website of
the Weekend
Obama
Mariachi
February 22,
2008
Mike Whitney
The
Bonfire of Capital
Jason Hribal
Elephants and the Circus: The Story of Janet
Liaquat Ali Khan
Arresting Musharraf
Joshua Frank
That Obama Glow: the Nuclear Industry's Golden Child
Dave Lindorff
Vicki's John: Ask Not What She Did for Him, Ask What He Did for
Her!
Liliana Segura
When Torture is Old News: McCain's Blonde Diversion
Robert Fantina
Castro, Bush and Cuba: a Fiasco Waiting to Happen?
Yifat Susskind
The ABCs of Death: Bush vs. Africa's Women
Norm Kent
Pushing 60 with Pot
Website of
the Day
Bush Gets Down in Liberia
February 21,
2008
Saul Landau
Fidel
Steps Aside
Elizabeth Schulte
Left Behind, With No End in Sight: America's Long-Term Unemployed
Helen Redmond
Health Care as a Human Right
Benjamin Dangl
Undermining Bolivia
Michael Levitin
Kosovo's Dilemma
Liam Leonard
Fear and Loathing on the Emerald Isle
Patrick Irelan
Land and Food in Venezuela
Linn Cohen-Cole
Poor Ohio: a Second Letter to Hillary on Her Ties to Monsanto
Michael Simmons
Daydream Believer: John Stewart, the Miles Davis of Folk Music
CounterPunch
News Service
A Message from the Women of Okinawa to US GIs
Website of the Day
Cop Abuse in Shreveport
|
March
20, 2008
A Conversation
with Zahid Hussain
Pakistan
on Fire
By WAJAHAT ALI
Violence and unpredictably court Pakistan
like a loyal and persistent stalker--or spurned lover. Over the
past year, nearly a thousand Pakistanis have died as a direct
result of suicide bombings, roadside blasts and conflicts with
militants and extremists operating within its borders. Alongside
the violence, Pakistan elected the PPP [Bhutto's party] with
a clear majority, however Musharaff still retains his role as
President with U.S. support and backing. Asif Zardari, Benazir's
husband also affectionately known as "Mr. Ten Percent"
for his illustrious career in corruption, was recently acquitted
of all criminal charges, thus making him a candidate for Prime
Minister. And, before one forgets, there's also the dramatic
rise of "the Pakistan Taliban" and insurgent leftovers
from the Afghan-Soviet war. Veteran Pakistani journalist, Zahid
Hussain, clearly analyzes the forces leading to Pakistan's sudden
surge of violence and militancy in his celebrated book, Frontline
Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam, which was praised
by both Seymour Hersh and Taliban author, Ahmed Rashid.
Here's an exclusive conversation with Hussain that took place
just this week.
ALI: A Bomb blast just
happened in Pakistan [March 11th, twin suicide bombs killing
nearly 24 in Lahore.] You're there and you're on the scene.
Tell us in America what we don't see on CNN or FOX News. Who
did it? Why did it happen? What the reality on the ground?
HUSSAIN: This is the latest
in the series of suicide bombings which has shaken Pakistan over
the last few months. There has been a marked intensification
in these terrorist attacks. The latest attack was at FIA--The
Federal Investigation Agency building. It definitely looks like
the work of Islamic militants. This building was particularly
targeted, since it has a counter terrorism unit, which was trained
by the U.S. That could be major reason for it being targeted.
In the last few months, we've
seen that the terrorists have increasingly targeted the security
institutions and army installations. Nobody ever claimed responsibility
for these attacks, but what the police and intelligence agencies
suspect that it is all emanating from the [Northern] Tribal Regions.
And, possibly, could be the work of Al Qaeda.
ALI: So, you say the Waziristan
and Northern Tribal regions of Pakistan could possibly be connected
to these attacks on security bases, but the ISI [Pakistan's Intelligence
Agency], which you described in your book as a "state within
the state" and the "Big Brother" of Pakistan,
has tangential and direct connections to extremist groups. So,
why are these extremist militants now turning around and attacking
the same intelligence agencies, arguably, that have nurtured
them for the past 20 years?
HUSSAIN: Certainly, they helped
these militant organizations, because [the militants] were helping
and serving Pakistan's regional policy. They were used as instruments
of policy for over 20 years, but definitely things changed after
9-11. First, there was pressure from the United States. The Pakistan
and American government suspended the support of the Taliban
government. Despite the fact the ISI had helped prop up the Taliban
government in Afghanistan- which also helped America as well.
Obviously, then there was suspicion that the part of the ISI
had still--if not directly patronizing the militant organizations--continued
to have that link.
Over the past 2 years, this
is no longer the situation. Until December 2006, we had not seen
the army or military organizations targeted by the militants.
But this changes after 2 or 3 incidents. Particularly, about
80 so-called militants, or people say, madrassa students, were
killed. That was the turning point I suppose. The attack was
supposedly carried out by the U.S., but the Pakistani government
owned it.
After that, we had seen - for
the first time- militants had targeted the army outside the tribal
areas. A suicide bomb attack on the training ground in Northern
province killed about 40 soldiers. It increased further in July
2007, after the raid on the Red Mosque [Pakistani commando units
killed nearly 173 radical students, when overtaking the besieged
Red Mosque.] After that, we've seen a large rise in suicide bomb
attacks. The army and intelligence service agencies then became
the prime target of those attacks. That would be the turning
point. There have been at least 7 to 8 attacks in Rawalpindi
[District of Pakistan in Northern Punjab province] alone.
ALI: You've traveled to
Afghanistan. You've been to Waziristan and crossed the border.
You've seen the most dangerous places close hand. Before we discuss
extremism and militant Islam, I want you to give me your definition
and characteristic traits of militancy existing within Pakistan
today. What aspects of Pakistani society today do you consider
as the militant extremists?
HUSSAIN: The militants are
those forces, who at one point, formed an organization to wage
so-called jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan. We saw those organizations,
in particular, in the 1990's. All those organizations had come
up and were formed by the leaders who had fought in Afghanistan,
those who had fought with the Afghan mujaheddin, in the 1980's.
But, later, after the end of Soviet control over Afghanistan,
these same people formed militant organizations that first fought
in Kashmir, and also, some of them supported the Taliban government
in Afghanistan. In 1990's, when they were formed, they all had
tacit support from the Pakistani intelligence agencies. At that
time, the jihad militancy was used as a part of Pakistan's' policy.
After 9-11, what happened is
that President Musharaff banned some of the organizations, and
some of them disintegrated and turned into a small cell that
had already operated in Pakistan. After 2001, they started attacking
the foreign consulates. We have seen the attack on the American
consulate 3 times. They were not happy with Pakistan's policy,
but initially, their target was foreign installations. They did
not target the Pakistani military understanding, ultimately,
that the military would eventually be their supporters.
Some of these groups have been
waging jihad against the Pakistani government--against the government
of Musharaff - thinking that he had collaborated with the Americans.
So, anyone who had collaborated with Americans had to become
their target. There is also a perception that the Pakistan military
is pursuing the American agenda. This is the change we have seen
in Pakistan over the past one and a half years.
ALI: Let's build a foundation.
Let's talk about Kashmir, which for some reason no one discusses
here in the American press. Here is a small, sliver of land,
most would argue is hardly worth fighting over, yet it has caused
2 wars and is a prime catalyst for mutually assured destruction
between India and Pakistan. Why is Kashmir so significant, and
how has it, if at all, been used and abused as a proxy for political
gain?
HUSSAIN: Well, I wouldn't say
that it is just a small piece of land. Definitely, this has been
a root cause of problems between both countries since their inception
as independent states. It has been the major cause of conflict
between the two countries. It goes back to 1989, there was an
indigenous uprising by Kashmiris against Indian policy. And,
definitely, Pakistan did support this uprising. Initially, what
we had seen was that the people who were fighting against the
Indian army were the Kashmiris themselves, who might have got
some training from Pakistan. But after the early 1990's, we saw
a large number of Pakistani fighters going inside Kashmir and
fighting. So, in a way, that is what has kept that struggle alive.
But, in fact, it has had huge
consequences in that it has damaged the Kashmiri's struggle and
it has definitely harmed them. It showed India that it was nothing
else but support from Pakistan for the Pakistan militants fighting
there. The military did not realize the long-term consequences
of doing this. The 2 major effects is that number one: it harms
Kashmiri's political struggle for independence. The second thing
they didn't realize is that by supporting these militant Islamic
units supposedly waging jihad against India and to liberate Kashmir,
they didn't realize this would come back and haunt them.
ALI: Blowback.
HUSSAIN: Yeah, a blowblack.
And then when the Pakistan government tried to stop them, the
militants turned the jihad inwards, and that's what we're facing
today in Pakistan.
ALI: The decision and political
machinations to declare Pakistan's Prime Minister were discussed
this week on the cover of the New York Times. To observers, Pakistan
looks like Monty Pythons flying circus. We have twice deposed,
former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Bhutto's convict husband
Asif Zadari, affectionately know as "Mr. 10%" for his
history of corruption, and Musharaff, a man who exiled Nawaz
Sharif since the latter tried to assassinate him. With all these
selfish, political players in power, one must ask: does this
represent a return to democracy for Pakistan or is this just
a front for feudal power-sharing like we've seen before?
HUSSAIN: I don't think so.
The people of Pakistan have given a clear verdict. The past is
certainly not enviable, but it is a political process. I don't
agree with the people who malign everything; those who say that
Pakistan isn't fit for democracy. I think it's wrong. Even in
democracies, we have seen cases of corruption. In India, we have
seen that the whole system, the politicians, almost every big
politician has been accused of something or another. Rajiv Ghadni,
when he was Prime Minister, he was accused of getting commissions
on transactions. I'm not saying that all politicians there are
not clean. But, India has come through a process.
As far as Nawaz Sharif and
others are concerned, look, they have made many mistakes, but
still actually they represent people here. People have voted
for them here, and one must respect that. These kinds of articles
that are printed about Pakistan, they do not see the whole picture.
This is a typical thing which says, "Pakistan is not fit
for democracy. It cannot run the government itself." And
I don't agree with that.
ALI: The United States,
as you know, has been very timid in its recent relations and
approach with Pakistan specifically about the restoration of
the Justices who were sacked by Musharaff last year. Yet, at
the same time, they gave Musharaff nearly $10 billion dollars,
who now seems like a lame duck, and billions of dollars to former
dictator General Zia. So, how is this a microcosm of United States'
overall policy towards Pakistan in the past 20 years? And why
are they still supporting Musharaff?
HUSSAIN: It is basically a
very narrow policy. They always try to rely on military rulers
thinking they can best help their interests in the long-term.
What I think is when you say, "They gave $10 billion to
Musharaff"--they didn't give it to one person, but basically
since Pakistan is strategically very important to the U.S., that's
why they get military aid. Most of this aid has come in the form
military hardware. That basically shows the paradox in American
policy. On one hand, they keep talking about democracy, yet they
keep supporting military rulers. I'm not much concerned about
the judiciary issue. I don't want America to interfere in any
way, and I don't think they can help restore democracy. I'm not
one of those people who says look America should support this
person or that person--no. You must really have faith in democracy;
if you do, you must allow that to operate and function. Allow
that process to continue. This is the best option Pakistan now
has to return to democracy. Every democracy loving country should
support that process.
Wajahat Ali is Pakistani Muslim American who is
neither a terrorist nor a saint. He is a playwright, essayist,
humorist, and Attorney at Law, whose work, "The Domestic
Crusaders," (www.domesticcrusaders.com)
is the first major play about Muslim Americans living in a post
9-11 America. His blog is at http://goatmilk.wordpress.com/.
He can be reached at wajahatmali@gmail.com
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