In a brief departure from its coverage of the U.S. elections, Watching America is featuring a story from El Salvador about the rise of extremism in Pakistan, relating it firmly to U.S. support of the Musharraf regime.
The president Musharraf appears at the moment to feel secure, at least in the strict political sense, since as we have seen, another attack on his life could happen at any time. Support from Washington is key to this feeling of security – support that is humorously called in the street “Busharraf,” – as is support from the Pakistani military, which permits him to remain in his place at the head of the country.
And why is this so? Well, the answer is the usual:
The Pakistani generals are not interested in the defense or coordination of a democratic model because they are conscious that it could mean the end of their privileges and of their comfortable and powerful situation, and in this respect they are in agreement with the other key player, the United States government.
Washington’s actions in Pakistan, as in other parts of the world, have been disguised by the discourse of “promoting democracy in all corners of the planet,” but much the same as in the past with Pinochet, Marcos and many other dictators, or even with the General Zia or Musharraf in Pakistan, what they really look for is the extreme defense of their own economic, political, and military interests throughout the world
This sentiment on the Pakistani street is not dissimilar from that on the Arab street: if the U.S. stopped supporting the home-grown holders of power, whose decisions were causing all the problems, then life would be much better. Arabic media continually put out such pieces.
The article is particularly interesting in the context of a recent piece translated from Urdu, which describes, in some detail, the consistent historic support of Republican presidents in the White House for dictators in Pakistan.
Read about Busharraf here on Watching America.com
Robin Koerner is a British-born citizen of the USA, who currently serves as Academic Dean of the John Locke Institute. He holds graduate degrees in both Physics and the Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge (U.K.). He is also the founder of WatchingAmerica.com, an organization of over 100 volunteers that translates and posts in English views about the USA from all over the world.
Robin may be best known for having coined the term “Blue Republican” to refer to liberals and independents who joined the GOP to support Ron Paul’s bid for the presidency in 2012 (and, in so doing, launching the largest coalition that existed for that candidate).
Robin’s current work as a trainer and a consultant, and his book If You Can Keep It , focus on overcoming distrust and bridging ideological division to improve politics and lives. His current project, Humilitarian, promotes humility and civility as a basis for improved political discourse and outcomes.