Bush's response to the crisis has been shaped to a great degree by a continuing White House calculation that Musharraf represents its best chance to put Pakistan on a path to democracy[.]Dear Michael Abramowitz,
-Michael Abramowitz in the Post
COUP IN PAKISTAN: THE OVERVIEW; PAKISTAN ARMY SEIZES POWER HOURS AFTER PRIME MINISTER DISMISSES HIS MILITARY CHIEF
Bloodlessly,
IOZ
4 comments:
Do they really BELIEVE this stuff as they write it? Is there that degree of self-delusion? Or, have we now so redefined terms (Democracy=military dictatorship riddled with Al Qaeda sympathizers who gun down opponents) that only in this alternative universe does this paragraph make sense. I know W never left the country until he was 40, but don't foreign desk reporters travel?
That sort of doublethink makes me long for the days of "He's a bastard, but he's our bastard!" Evil as it was, it was a crystal-clear encapsulation of the situation: We're consorting with evil to get something in return.
But the White House told Musharraf to "take off his uniform," thus creating a democratic decoupitational-type retroactive freedoming of the event. I mean, is that really so hard to understand? Execute military coup, then remove uniform a few years later -- bam, no military coup! Let freedom ring!
You people just don't understand the rich complexities of statecraft.
on musharraf in particular, and running the world from washington in general -
http://tinyurl.com/323byh
there's an intro by tom engelhardt and an article by john brown (his real name, surprisingly - one of the guys who resigned from the state dept. in 2003 rather than continue to work there during a war based on lies - his resignation letter was posted at http://tinyurl.com/2vvcpw)
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