Sunday, December 20, 2009

U.S. turbulence buffets Pakistan


Corruption and anti-American fury unravels troubled country

A Good Comment
By Eric Margolis
Toronto Sun

".....Asif Zardari then inherited Benazir's People's Party, Pakistan's largest. He became president, thanks to strong U.S. political and financial support.

In return, Zardari supported the U.S. war in Afghanistan and allowed the Pentagon to keep using Pakistan's bases and military personnel. Washington promised at least $8 billion.

That sleazy deal has now come unstuck as Pakistan's newest, rather improbable democratic hero, Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, enforced the law by reinstating the corruption charges......

Opposition parties are demanding Zardari and senior aides resign. Islamabad is in an uproar just when Washington needs Pakistan's government to intensify the war against the so-called Pakistani Taliban and support growing U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan and intensifying drone attacks inside Pakistan......

The Zardari's days as Washington's man in Islamabad are numbered. Anti-American fury is surging with popular claims that Pakistan has been "occupied" by the U.S., treated like a third-rate banana republic and is run by corrupt, U.S.-installed stooges. Many Pakistanis blame the current bloody wave of bombings in their nation on U.S. mercenaries from Xe (formerly Blackwater) and old foe India staging revenge attacks. Most Pakistanis believe Washington is bent on tearing apart their unstable nation to seize its nuclear weapons......

As we enter 2010, the ugly acronym, "Afpak," will bedevil, befuddle and consume the Obama White House that so unwisely and rashly ignored Gen. Douglas MacArthur's wise warning to avoid land wars in Asia. "

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