Line of Fire amidst War on Terror

2006-09-26T05:47:00.000-07:00

The war on terror – a war against faceless enemies is being rechristened as a war against human values – call it democracy, human rights, freedom.

America, the super-cop and the super-power of the world under Bush-administration considers Pakistan to be its closest ally in this war against terror – rechristened as a war against people against human values like democracy and so-forth.

Bush & Mush are closed friends – at least that’s what they tried to show in their joint press-conference on 22nd September. And the two had to restate their trust in each other in front of the global media and in their mutual support in the ongoing war against terror.

The leader, chanting democracy in its charge against the terrorists is happy to take the help of a despotic ruler – who knows he has limited choices. And the leader also seems to have limited choices now.

And now comes ‘In the Line of Fire’ amidst War on Terror from President Musharraf, the leader of the ally of the superpower leading the war on terror.

First my confessions – I have not read the book yet. So I have no right to pass any judgment as a critique of the book. I am not attempting that too here. However I have been following few press reports (more than 700 now). President Musharraf again did a great job by bringing in President Bush in his promotional campaign for the book (other than this tangible objective, I didn’t find any other output of their joint press conference of 22nd September). The book is already ranked at number 7 in Amazon – thanks for president Bush recommending a ‘buy’ on the book.

I rather have a few questions to President Musharraf and global policy makers, a few points of appreciation again for President Musharraf, and a few points of disapprovals again for President Musharraf and his friendly supporters from the ranks global policy makers.

My first question is – who paid the price for his Kargil adventures? There were reported to be 532 losses of Indian defense personnel, and around 700-4000 loss of Pakistan army and ranks. The range in casualty in Pakistan personnel state about the nature of treatment Pakistan defense personnel received due to their covert mission. Shouldn’t the person responsible for the death of these people be taken into accountability now as the person him-self admits of his adventures, totally un-provoked?

Wikipedia has so far a different view of Kargil war in terms of who won and who lost and which side lost more army compared to the other than what’s apparently stated by President Musharraf in his book. How sad is present global affairs when the state of a neighboring country takes pride in human losses on the Indian side without any sustainable, justifiable and tangible gains.
On one side of the global affairs we see inconsistent style of bringing justice to Saddam Hussein – and on another side we have adventurous military ruler proudly justifying the Kargil war.

Yes – President Musharraf is right when he commented ‘nonsense’ to a coup report in Pakistan. Yes, he is also right to claim that Pakistan is not a banana republic – because one would be right to question whether Pakistan at all is a republic, or a playground of military rulers.

My 2nd question is what is the objective of president Musharraf in writing this memoir now? Possible alternatives can be many – in order of likelihood – to project him as a great military strategist, as the greatest Pakistani ruler till date, as a regional statesman, as a global statesman, to commercial gains to show his literary skills (unlikely) to even an acknowledgement that his days in Pakistan are indeed limited now.

I really am confused about the possible answer.

Now comes the points of appreciation. The good this about this man is his frankness – he never was a diplomat (lacked the skills?). And because of his frankness, he has given rise to ‘Mushism’ in line with his global leader ‘Bushism’. And as a result of that, he did put his foot in his mouth few times in the past – and more of that is expected with this book release now as he has opened the Pandora ’s Box without realizing the consequences.

I am sure President Bush may have to do the same for recommending a ‘buy’ of the book as well – one can’t recommend a ‘buy’ and disagree with the content therein, terming them to be ‘lies’.

CIA seems to have traded Al Qaeda terrorists with Pakistan – so it’s not a human-value based war against terror in which Pakistan is an ally, it’s a mercenary mechanism of terrorizing and monetizing Pakistan to join this war on terror. Probably one day, both that monetizing and terrorizing Pakistan by Bush-administration would end.

May I please ask the leaders of war on terror what they expect Pakistan’s stand on terror would be by that time?

Taliban was an indirect creation of USA (and CIA) – Pakistan is another manifestation of that continued flawed policies of USA (and CIA).

The man, President Musharraf seems to speak from his heart – one may doubt about quality and sustainability of his policies and about the closeness of his heart – with that of a humanitarian or with that of a butcher who takes pride in a failed uncalled for mission.

Selecting right partners in any war is more important than operational aspects of any war. Time and In the Line of Fire would again state the fact that Bush-administration made severe compromises in fighting long-term war on terror by picking and monetizing short-term partners.
President Musharraf is in one such mission (he would like to call it Herculean one – history would decide that) in which he can’t quit his mission till his death. We have seen that in the past where he delayed his promises to quit few of the all-in-one posts that he holds in Pakistan since he came in power in a coup in 1999. Because he knows he can’t – because Pakistan and Musharraf knows it well that Musharraf remains as long as keeps all the power to him.

Even that may not be guaranteed for Musharraf in Pakistan – which fortunately is not a ‘banana republic’.

In the conclusion, I draw from a reviewer (MushBushManTan) in Amazon.com who rightly stated about the polarity in the reviews of the book (and probably rightfully guessing their origins as well), and pointed out how stupid of us to do that. However he also stated: ‘Not everything in this book is accurate, so stop jumping up and down . Is it all inaccurate? how the hell do you know? Is it entertaining? I enjoyed it.’

So I did find some answer to one of my earlier question – what objectives did drive Musharraf to write this memoir.

As he tired wearing the hats of military and democratic heads of the Government of Pakistan for seven long and demanding years – he wanted to have a change, and some fresh air. He could not disown his earlier crowns for reasons stated herein – he rather wanted to add one more.

And that was the hat of an entertainer!

Indo-Pak

Line of Fire amidst War on Terror