Pakistan - a preview of coming U.S. attractions

more on pakistan, none of it good...

Police throughout the country raided the homes of opposition party leaders and activists, arresting at least 500. Top lawyers were also taken into custody, and 70 activists were detained at the offices of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in the eastern city of Lahore. Police confiscated the equipment of journalists covering the raid and ordered them to leave the premises. All independent television news stations remained off the air for a second straight day. The prime minister, meanwhile, said that elections could be delayed for up to a year.

it seems that quite a few people have been having the same thoughts that mettle and i have expressed on this blog, that something similar either will happen or is already happening here, among them no lesser a light than juan cole...

If Bush and Cheney are ever tempted into extreme measures in the United States, Musharraf has provided a template for how it would unfold. Maintain you are moving against terrorists and extremists, but actually move against the rule of law.

but i think it's also fascinating what the unwashed masses are saying... here's a sampling of comments on the above wapo article...

• dongoodwin1 wrote: I've been warning that we need to be alert for an attempt by Bush to declare Martial Law. This action by his buddy, Musharraf, is likely designed as a "dress rehersal" for our Uberfuhrer_want-to-be.

• fslearjet wrote: It’s interesting to see the collapse of a a failed administration and a failed policy in Pakistan that closely mirrors the failure of this bush#2 administration. ... This failed president and the neocons deserve to clean up this mess and further this entire administration (bush#2) should resign from office right now.

• eco-pharm wrote: Bush's hero is inspiring Bush. Look for the same thing to occur here next spring.

• justjunkemail wrote: A letter to the Pakistanians. Please do not be alarmed! This is only a test. The US Goverment wants to see if it can accomplish the same thing under the current leadership here in the US. This is only a test.

• pgardner1 wrote: "President Bush has 'regretfully decided' to impose martial law in the wake of the terrorist attack against the Chicago Board of Trade. The attack, coming only a week before the Federal elections, was, in President Bush's words, "proof that the call for withdrawing troops from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan encourage the enemies of this great democracy.' After detailing plans for the new biometric identity cards to be issued to all U.S. citizens, President Bush was asked about the upcoming elections. His response, 'we are looking at them,' left little doubt that the elections would not take place on schedule.

finally, professor cole offers another enlightening piece of information... it seems that a number of newspapers are blaming the u.s. for the current crisis...

While Gen. Musharraf maintains that he was forced to make his most recent coup by the threat of Muslim extremism, many of Pakistan's Urdu newspapers have a different interpretation. They suggest in their editorials that the Bush administration' s pressure on Musharraf to move in an uncompromising way against Muslim fundamentalists sharpened the contradictions in Pakistani society and provoked the current crisis. That is, they think it is America's fault for denying to the Pakistani government the option of compromise and so pushing the country toward polarization and the coup.

[from Islam, an Urdu daily]

We should tell the United States that we can offer no more sacrifices, and that it should fight its war on its own. The United States has plunged us into a 'quagmire' where the security and integrity of the country are at stake, not to speak of the holding of elections. How can elections be held at a time when explosions are taking place all around? How will the people be able to leave their homes and vote? The war of the United States, due to which the entire nation is in the grip of bomb blasts and suicide attacks, cannot be fought at the cost of the country's integrity.

like i said, none of it good...

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