B
B1ackwater
Guest
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Baton-wielding police fought with lawyers
outside courthouses in Islamabad and Lahore again Tuesday, arresting
dozens more as they enforced Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's
crackdown on judicial activism.
With one in four lawyers now jailed and many judges detained in their
homes, surrounded by soldiers, Pakistan's judicial system is in
lockdown three days after Musharraf suspended the constitution and
declared a state of emergency.
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto left Karachi for Islamabad
Tuesday for meetings with other opposition leaders about how to
respond to Musharraf's declaration.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry -- fired by Musharraf
Saturday -- in a phone call to a gathering of lawyers urged them to go
to "every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the
time to sacrifice."
Musharraf's declaration noted a "visible ascendancy in the activities
of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks" and it blamed a
judiciary that was "at cross purposes" with his government's efforts
"to control this menace."
Opposition leaders, however, suggested the judicial activism Musharraf
was really targeting was an expected Supreme Court ruling that would
bar him from another term as Pakistan's president.
About 3,000 Pakistani lawyers, rounded up since Saturday, sit in jails
across the country with no courts operating to which they can seek
release. Pakistan has an estimated 12,000 lawyers.
- - - - -
Gee ... can't "W" arrest OUR lawyers too ???
In any event, Pakistan really looks to be coming apart
at the seams. Whether Musharrif can hold on to power is
a big question. No doubt he has full US backing - neither
Bhutto or any other player I've heard of would give the
US the kind of cooperation and access we've gotten from
Musharrif. COULD be that the US is behind this "coup",
desperate for an even freer hand so bin-Ladens head
can be delivered before 11/08.
But word is that Musharrif doesn't have his militarys
complete backing, perhaps not much backing at all. Even
the US, in its present situation, can't fight Pakistans
army, keep Musharrif in power and plunge into the tribal
territories after Binny at the same time.
There's another possibility ... that the US wants
Musharrif to fall. We forced Bhutto into the scene once
again knowing that chaos would erupt. Perhaps we've
encouraged Musharrif to respond with the iron fist,
saying we'll back him, but secretly backing another
coup by an even more pro-US general ?
Or maybe we want TOTAL chaos so paranoia can be spread
about jihadists seizing Pakistans nuclear weapons and
component stockpile. Then we would have a free hand,
with broadbased backing. Wouldn't take THAT much to
convince India to launch a pre-emptive nuke attack
on Pakistan - because they KNOW what the jihadists
will do with those weapons. Whatta you bet we say that
some of those weapons are in the tribal areas, right
near where we figure Binny is hiding ... ?
Wouldn't hurt if a few nukes or bomb cores turned up
"lost" - unaccounted-for - after it's all over. That
way the threat of nuclear terrorism would suddenly
become very credible and all sorts of "emergency
measures" would be justified.
In short, Pakistan offers many opportunities for
politically profitible Machiavellian machinations.
The status-quo was getting us nothing and nowhere
and elections are only a year away. So -
outside courthouses in Islamabad and Lahore again Tuesday, arresting
dozens more as they enforced Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's
crackdown on judicial activism.
With one in four lawyers now jailed and many judges detained in their
homes, surrounded by soldiers, Pakistan's judicial system is in
lockdown three days after Musharraf suspended the constitution and
declared a state of emergency.
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto left Karachi for Islamabad
Tuesday for meetings with other opposition leaders about how to
respond to Musharraf's declaration.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry -- fired by Musharraf
Saturday -- in a phone call to a gathering of lawyers urged them to go
to "every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the
time to sacrifice."
Musharraf's declaration noted a "visible ascendancy in the activities
of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks" and it blamed a
judiciary that was "at cross purposes" with his government's efforts
"to control this menace."
Opposition leaders, however, suggested the judicial activism Musharraf
was really targeting was an expected Supreme Court ruling that would
bar him from another term as Pakistan's president.
About 3,000 Pakistani lawyers, rounded up since Saturday, sit in jails
across the country with no courts operating to which they can seek
release. Pakistan has an estimated 12,000 lawyers.
- - - - -
Gee ... can't "W" arrest OUR lawyers too ???
In any event, Pakistan really looks to be coming apart
at the seams. Whether Musharrif can hold on to power is
a big question. No doubt he has full US backing - neither
Bhutto or any other player I've heard of would give the
US the kind of cooperation and access we've gotten from
Musharrif. COULD be that the US is behind this "coup",
desperate for an even freer hand so bin-Ladens head
can be delivered before 11/08.
But word is that Musharrif doesn't have his militarys
complete backing, perhaps not much backing at all. Even
the US, in its present situation, can't fight Pakistans
army, keep Musharrif in power and plunge into the tribal
territories after Binny at the same time.
There's another possibility ... that the US wants
Musharrif to fall. We forced Bhutto into the scene once
again knowing that chaos would erupt. Perhaps we've
encouraged Musharrif to respond with the iron fist,
saying we'll back him, but secretly backing another
coup by an even more pro-US general ?
Or maybe we want TOTAL chaos so paranoia can be spread
about jihadists seizing Pakistans nuclear weapons and
component stockpile. Then we would have a free hand,
with broadbased backing. Wouldn't take THAT much to
convince India to launch a pre-emptive nuke attack
on Pakistan - because they KNOW what the jihadists
will do with those weapons. Whatta you bet we say that
some of those weapons are in the tribal areas, right
near where we figure Binny is hiding ... ?
Wouldn't hurt if a few nukes or bomb cores turned up
"lost" - unaccounted-for - after it's all over. That
way the threat of nuclear terrorism would suddenly
become very credible and all sorts of "emergency
measures" would be justified.
In short, Pakistan offers many opportunities for
politically profitible Machiavellian machinations.
The status-quo was getting us nothing and nowhere
and elections are only a year away. So -
