Addict (drugaddict) wrote,
Addict
drugaddict

This is a timely and cogent commentary by Professor Juan Cole, Professor of Middle Eastern and Sout

This is a timely and cogent commentary by Professor Juan Cole, Professor of Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, with his incisive insights into the dynamics of Pakistan following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
 
HIS CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH:    In order to get through this crisis, Bush must insist that the Pakistani Supreme Court, summarily dismissed and placed under house arrest by Musharraf, be reinstated. The PPP must be allowed to elect a successor to Ms. Bhutto without the interference of the military. Early elections must be held, and the country must return to civilian rule. Pakistan's population is, contrary to the impression of many pundits in the United States, mostly moderate and uninterested in the Taliban form of Islam. But if the United States and "democracy" become associated in their minds with military dictatorship, arbitrary dismissal of judges, and political instability, they may turn to other kinds of politics, far less favorable to the United States. Musharraf may hope that the Pakistani military will stand with him even if the vast majority of people turn against him. It is a forlorn hope, and a dangerous one, as the shah of Iran discovered in 1978-79.    END QUOTE
 
Regards,  John
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