Bush And Mush Linked At The Hip, Face Similar Fates

Rice ‘sways Musharraf on emergency’
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice helped persuade Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf to hold off declaring a state of emergency, high level Pakistani government sources said Thursday. Musharraf was said to be considering the move, which would bolster military rule and suspend democratic freedoms, amid security concerns that pose the biggest threat to army chief’s rule since he seized power in a coup in 1999. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Despite Musharraf’s apparent climbdown, senior U.S. military officials remain deeply concerned that the state of emergency remained a viable option for Pakistan’s leader, according to CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

Scared the US, huh, Bush was not ready to pull the inevitable terror debacle to declare his own ‘state emergency’. For Bush and Musharraf, the timing must be right. So, we must keep a close eye on Musharraf , he is our weather vane for the storm Bush has planned for us.

Musharraf’s State of Emergency By Ahmed Rashid, Washington Post
LAHORE, Pakistan — President Pervez Musharraf was on the verge of imposing a state of emergency in Pakistan last week before being stopped by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and civilian advisers. It is clear to all in this extremely tense country that power is rapidly flowing away from Musharraf, even as he desperately tries to find a way out of an impossible political impasse.
Bhutto wants to restore democracy
Independent Online, South Africa – Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf has reiterated his opposition to the return of two exiled former prime ministers before parliamentary elections … in remarks broadcast on Sunday, ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto highlighted her party’s opposition to Pakistan having military leadership.
Timing of Bhutto return in dispute Sydney Morning Herald, Claudia Parsons
BENAZIR BHUTTO, the former prime minister and leader of Pakistan’s largest opposition party, said she hoped to return home by mid-October for elections in which she may ally with the President, Pervez Musharraf.
“I would like to go back to Pakistan sooner rather than later, but General Musharraf still is opposed to my return to Pakistan,” Bhutto said in New York on Saturday. “He’s prepared for my return to Pakistan but the timing of it is under dispute between the two of us.”
Musharraf wants exiled leaders to stay away Staff Reporter, Dawn, Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Aug 11: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Saturday said the return of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to the country before the general election would disturb the political atmosphere, adding that they would be well-advised not to insist on coming home.

Bhutto, fly in the ointment?

Transexual Pakistani Update

Jailed same-sex couple appeal to Musharraf

A court on Monday jailed Pakistan’s first publicly acknowledged same-sex couple for three years for perjury – prompting the defendants to ask the president for help.

The couple clutched at each others arms with expressions of disbelief on their faces, but vowed their love would survive the separation.

The couple, who married last year, had approached the Lahore High Court for protection against harassment by Tariq’s relatives. However, the judge accused them of lying about the gender of Raj, 31.

Same-sex marriage case: Transsexual Shumail Raj freed on bail

* Shahzina’s father threatens to ‘teach the couple a lesson’

LAHORE: Shumail Raj, a transsexual who is the centre of same-sex marriage and is sentenced for perjury, was released on bail from the Kot Lakhpat jail on Monday.
The prison authorities let Shumail leave with his mother and brother and the family immediately left for Faisalabad.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) sentenced Shumail to three years of imprisonment on May 28. The prison authorities had confined him to a separate room in the women’s block and had treated him as a woman. His perjury sentence was appealed at the Supreme Court, which allowed him bail. However, even after the bail grant, Shumail was kept in custody because he could not come up with bail bonds. After an 18-day period of being granted bail, his mother was able to take him home.

When approached by reporters, his mother and brother refused to comment. However, Shumail expressed happiness over the release. He said Shahzina’s (counterpart in the same-sex marriage) father was threatening him and asking him to put his act together or else he would “teach the couple a lesson”. He also said that the threats would not stop him from continuing to fight the case, however he demanded police protection.

He alleged that the Kot Lakhpat jail’s administration tortured him mentally by tying him up and locking him in a separate cell.

The case started with Shumail and Shahzina, who got married on September 9, 2006, reporting to the sessions court that Shahzina’s father, Tariq Hussain and a couple of policemen were harassing them. The additional sessions judge (ASJ) ruled in the couple’s favour, however the pestering continued. The couple then appealed to the LHC. When the matter came to LHC, Tariq told the judge that Shumail was a transman, earlier named Nazia, and he had had his breasts and uterus removed. The judge directed for confirmation and Tariq’s allegation proved to be correct.

Related stories and references

• Shumail Raj and Shehzina Tariq: An identity under scrutiny
• ACTION ALERT: PAKISTAN: TRANSGENDER HUSBAND AND HIS WIFE SEPARATED AND IMPRISONED
• SC ORDERS FOR RELEASE ON BAIL TWO GIRLS INVOLVED IN SAME SEX MARRIAGE

ISLAMABAD, June 28: Supreme Court has suspended 3-year punishment awarded by Lahore High Court to two girls Shumail Raj and Shazia Tariq on their involvement in same sex marriage and issued orders for their release on bail against surety bonds of Rs 50,000 each besides admitting their appeal for regular hearing. Dr Babar Awan appeared on behalf of Shumail Raj and Shazia Tariq. He argued that one could be sentenced to 7 years term if one was charge sheeted or to jail term of 3 months if one was not charge sheeted. The decision given by the judge of Lahore High Court reflects that he indicted them in haste and anger and then awarded punishment. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan observed it was incomprehensible to him if both were girls then why one of them was sent to male ward and other in female ward.

This is an interesting development in Islamic Law. The conflict between democratic espoused human rights versus Pakistani Islamic legal system seems to be ongoing. If Islamic culture allows parents to take the law into their own hands, then there is no law. Respect for a constitution based legal system takes second place to religious law in a Theocracy. There may as well be no constitution at all. This is what could happen in America if we don’t open our eyes and protect our constitution from religious interlopers.

Following The Yellow Brick Road Makes Enemies Stronger

The Pashtun time bomb

The alarming growth of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the Pashtun tribal region of northwest Pakistan and southern Afghanistan is usually attributed to the popularity of their messianic brand of Islam and to covert help from Pakistani intelligence agencies.

But another, more ominous reason also explains their success: their symbiotic relationship with a simmering Pashtun separatist movement that could lead to the unification of the estimated 41 million Pashtuns on both sides of the border, the breakup of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the emergence of a new national entity, “Pashtunistan,” under radical Islamist leadership.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are fragile, multiethnic states. Ironically, by ignoring ethnic factors and defining the struggle with jihadists mainly in military terms, the United States is inadvertently helping Al Qaeda and the Taliban capture the leadership of Pashtun nationalism. (entire article)

I could while away the hours
Conferrin’ with the flowers
Consultin’ with the rain
And my head, I’d be scratchin’
While my thoughts were busy hatchin’
If I only had a brain.

Are we living in OZ?  Are we Munchkins running toward the Land of Oz: a fantasy region containing four countries under the rule of one monarch?  The United States is on a collision course with reality.   Other countries that occupy the same planet, are holding their breath to see if America will return from the alternate reality imposed on the American population and the world.   The USA has emboldened the occupants of that nether world between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In the conventional wisdom, either Islamist or Pashtun identity will triumph, but a more plausible possibility is that the result could be what the former Pakistani diplomat Hussain Haqqani has called an “Islamic Pashtunistan.”

Pashtuns being the largest single ethnic group in Afghanistan, bitterly resent the disproportionate influence enjoyed by the Tajik ethnic minority in the Karzai regime, a legacy of U.S. collaboration with Tajik militias in overthrowing the Taliban.  Pashtunsalso feel that they have been the main victims of U.S.-NATO bombing attacks on the Taliban, who are largely Pashtuns and operate almost entirely in Pashtun territory. In one authoritative estimate, civilian casualties have numbered nearly 5,000 since 2001.

So, what does the US do?  It promotes further conflict that insures the “terror” threat does not fade.  The Republican Administration is fearful that their grip on World Domination remains justifiable.  Without a Terror Threat could we accidentally slip back into stability?.  Without a Terror Threat,  Republicans would loose their grip on the gullible voters.   After all,  there is a lot of taxpayer money money money to be pocketed. 

The Minnesota bridge is a fine example of where taxpayer dollars should be going,  not into the pockets of corrupt war profiteering buddies.  The billions of dollars that are wasted, lost or unaccounted for since the Terror War was hi-jacked to Iraq,  could be applied to countless US projects to protect our own infrastructure.  Take a VERY close look at what Congress is spending on right now!   They are appropriating money to fix that Minnesota Bridge.    Great afterthought, huh?

 

Red Mosque Redux, Taliban or Al Qaeda – Pakistan At Risk

Fresh paint on the shrine’s outer wall reads Lal Masjid, meaning Red Mosque

Pro-Taliban fighters have seized control of a mosque and shrine in the Mohmand area of Pakistan’s North West Frontier province and renamed it the Red Mosque. The tribesmen have expressed support for Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the leader of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, killed in a government assault last month.

Before he was killed in the raid on Lal Masjid, Ghazi warned that after his death there would be many more Red Mosques.

Obama willing to invade Pakistan in al-Qaeda hunt

Standing in front of a Stars and Stripes flag, Mr Obama said: “There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again . . . If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.”

“Because of a war in Iraq that should never have been authorised and should never have been waged, we are now less safe than we were before 9/11. It is time to turn the page. It is time to write a new chapter in our response to 9/11,” he said.

Whether or not the US gets to resume it’s original mission to hunt down the operatives of 9/11, the game has changed. Obama’s attempt to bring attention to our failing to pursue Osama may be out of sync with our current situation. If he had only addressed relocating troops to home or to Afghanistan first, I would be much more impressed. His statements were too transparent as a response to Hillary’s war agenda. If we allow Musharraf to be dethroned, we had better have someone in the wings to replace him. As much as I want Osama and gang caught, this will doom Musharraf and the safety of his nukes.

Saber rattling does not become you Mr. Obama. Please resume your role to be above it all and find common ground to become the uniter we so desperately need. Accountability is what is missing from our world. Arrogance is no longer fashionable. Abuse of privilege must be outlawed. The GOP cannot be defeated if Democrats take their eyes off the ball.

Clinton Demurs On Obama’s Nuclear Stance

She Says It Is Unwise to Rule Out Using the Arms Against Terrorists

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton drew another distinction between herself and Sen. Barack Obama yesterday, refusing to rule out the use of nuclear weapons against Osama bin Laden or other terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Clinton’s comments came in response to Obama’s remarks earlier in the day that nuclear weapons are “not on the table” in dealing with ungoverned territories in the two countries, and they continued a steady tug of war among the Democratic presidential candidates over foreign policy.

Where are we going with this?

 

 

Bush, Still The Most Dangerous Friend A Country Can Have

Pakistan hits out at U.S. terrorism stance
By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent: Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pakistan hit back on Sunday at U.S. critics of its fight against terrorism, insisting its army was best suited to hunt for Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda militants Washington believes enjoy safe haven in Pakistani tribal areas near Afghanistan.

Appearing on CNN’s “Late Edition,” an angry Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri criticized talk of U.S. forces attacking al Qaeda on Pakistani territory, warning that any incursion would alienate opinion in the predominantly Muslim U.S. ally against terrorism.

<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>

“What I don’t like is the tone that I am now hearing and that I am now reading in the American media,” said Kasuri.

<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kasuri told CNN talk of an al Qaeda “safe haven” in their country angered the Pakistanis, who have had 700 soldiers killed fighting militants in tribal areas.

“What we need is actionable intelligence” to tackle al Qaeda, he said, and reiterated his government’s view that talk of U.S. strikes inside Pakistan was “irresponsible.”

<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, a staunch critic of Bush’s war in Iraq, said: “I don’t think we should take anything off the table.” Wherever we find these evil people, we should go get them,” the Nevada Democrat told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Kasuri said U.S. raids into Pakistan would be a mistake. “When you talk of going after targets, you will lose the battle for hearts and minds,” he said. “The Pakistan Army can do the job much better,” he said.

<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>

Bush administration officials stress that they support Musharraf, who is struggling with a violent campaign by Islamic militants and a political crisis following Pakistan’s Supreme Court reinstatement of the chief justice after Musharraf sought to remove him.

This is a dangerous development for Musharraf. The Bush administration cannot shake off the bungling of it’s angry promise to “bring Osama and AlQaeda to justice” for the events of September 11, 2001. Bush claimed over and over that “we will hunt them down wherever they are”. Now, Bush is forced to consider dumping his ‘good buddy’ to the radical opposition and try to play catch up with his promises to America.

Bush got this country sidetracked, took his eye off the original ball to invade Iraq by weaving a web of deception and bungled the whole thing. Bush has covered lies with more lies and protected his deceptions with ‘executive privilege’. Bush has wiggled his ‘executive orders’ into a mesh of Constitution busting edicts. The fabric of America is in the hands of both houses of Congress.

Bush’s mantra that AlQaeda will follow us home is the most ignorant assertion anyone could make! American troops are ‘over there’ getting wasted while they could be here protecting their homes and families. Why would AlQaeda choose to attack America when we are LEAST vulnerable with our troops HERE? Logic would show that we are MOST vulnerable NOW when our protectors are deployed in a quagmire far, far away.
Is this country really buying this backwards logic?
Are all the ‘thinkers’ in this country becoming ‘ex-pats’ or buried into prescription ‘feel-good’ drugs? Those of us, who cannot afford the cost of escape, must deal with the situation at hand. Impeach, Indict or Censure – I don’t care, just do something!

 

Holy War Begins – Musharraf Could Cancel Elections

Truce Over, Pakistan Militants Kill 70

Guardian Unlimited, UK – From AP By RIAZ KHAN AP Writer PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) – Militants in northwest Pakistan disavowed a peace pact with the government and launched two days of suicide attacks and bombings that killed at least 70 people, dramatically escalating the violence in the al-Qaida infiltrated region.

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

 

There is concern in Pakistan that the gathering sense of crisis could prompt Musharraf to cancel elections later this year and declare a state of emergency – despite his repeated denials.
However, Musharraf can also use the turbulence to convince Washington, his key backer, that he remains a vital bulwark against extremists in the Islamic world’s only declared nuclear state.

Deadly Violence Surges in the Tribal Regions of Pakistan
New York Times, United States – Abdullah Noor/AP – In the deadliest suicide bombing in Pakistan since January, 24 paramilitary soldiers were killed and 26 other people were wounded Saturday near Miram Shah, the headquarters of the restive North Waziristan’s tribal region.
Rocket attacks on government and security installations surged Saturday in different parts of the North-West Frontier Province. An attempt to detonate a car bomb outside a bank here failed.
The deadly surge in violence occurred barely a day after the Interior Ministry in Islamabad announced the end of Operation Silence after a bloody raid to get at militants holed up in the Red Mosque, known here as the Lal Masjid, and the adjoining seminary.

Fresh attacks in NW Pakistan, 32 killed
Reuters India, India

Militants Kill 38 In Northwest Pakistan
Guardian Unlimited, UK

Suicide Attacks Kill 50 Pakistani Troops
Washington Post, United States

Militants in Pak’s North Waziristan region end peace deal with Govt.
Hindu, India

OK sports fans, here we go!

 

• Pakistan houses the factions that Bush’s fantasy keeps using to justify “stay the course”.

• Pakistan and the United States are SO into each other’s pockets … because Pakistan has the Nukes and we pay him well to keep them safe … yet, Musharraf is talking about pardoning the ‘evil KAHN’ who exported the stuff to the highest bidder (If only I had invested …).
  

• A Holy War will inevitably draw the factions inside Iraq and Iran into greater confrontation than they are presently in … plus provide the distraction needed for Turkey to invade Kurdistan.
  

• The “paramilitary” in Pakistan are obviously our employees and they are dying faster than normal … so, expect they will start going AWOL to protect their families.

• The fact that Musharraf is toying with declaring a “State of Crisis” to postpone elections is a very good mirror to what King George plans to do when his controllers arrange a ‘terror attack’ so he can also postpone elections to pursue his ARMAGEDDON ENVY!

Did I miss anything?

American Taxpayers Rent Pakistan’s Army

US renting Pak army for $ 100 million a month 14 Jul 2007, 0340 hrs IST,CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA,TNN WASHINGTON: The United States is paying around $ 100 million a month for the deployment of 80,000 Pakistani troops on its border with Afghanistan ostensibly for the war on terrorism, a key US official revealed on Thursday. The money is meant to be “reimbursements” to Pakistan “for stationing troops and moving them around, and gasoline, and bullets, and training and other costs that they incur as part of the war on terror,” US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, told a Congressional panel. “That’s a lot of money,” Boucher admitted before the panel about what amounts to a $ 1.2 billion per year reimbursement. “I don’t know if it comes to the whole amount of their expenses, but we support their expenses, yes.”

When do American Taxpayers get a voice in the spending of the Billion$ on hiring mercenaries and armies in other countries?

How many Billion$ would it cost to provide decent health care for our own country? If there is a trade off here, I don’t see it. If and when THEY sneak over to the US to attack, our piss poor health care will finish us off without THEM lifting a finger. Why should THEY even bother attacking US when the US Administration has done their job for them?

By the time Bush gets through emaciating our military and screwing our veterans, we will HAVE to import our soldiers from private contractors and other countries. King George’s Armageddon Envy is very tiresome, when do WE get a voice? After all WE are paying the bills!

 

Red Mosque, Taleban Have Their Martyrs – Now What

Musharraf boost
Why the president has finally moved against radical mosque.

Pakistani soldiers storm mosque Troops in Pakistan’s city of Islamabad have stormed the Red Mosque, after talks with radicals broke down. The army said 40 militants were killed in the operation, as loud explosions and gunfire were heard. Three soldiers were killed and 15 injured, the army said.

Pakistanis storm mosque; 43 dead   China Daily, China -
ISLAMABAD – Pakistani forces stormed a mosque compound in the capital on Tuesday, killing at least 40 militants who were believed to be holed up with …

And counting

Troops storm Pakistan mosque compound after talks fail Jerusalem Post, Israel -
By AP Troops stormed Islamabad’s Red Mosque compound Tuesday, prompting a fierce firefight with militants accused of holding about 150 hostages inside, …

40 militants killed in Lal Masjid attack Times of India, India -
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani troops stormed the Lal Masjid complex in the capital early Tuesday morning after talks with radicals to end the week-long standoff …

Pakistan faces the Taleban’s tentacles BBC News, By Barbara Plett , Bannu, northern Pakistan
Armed Pakistani tribesmen had been imposing their own hardline version of Islam in the lawless border region near Afghanistan. But their influence is spreading, and the state seems powerless to stop it.

The members of this radical religious movement are Pakistani, but they’re inspired by the Afghan Taleban. They support its leader Mullah Omar, rather than Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf.   … the Taleban have a duty to enforce Islamic law wherever they can because the government has failed to do so. He supports those who’ve tried to assassinate the president in the past – they were “doing the right thing”, he says.

“We don’t have the power or capacity to remove this government. We cannot bring down the Musharraf regime, so we don’t intend to do that. What we are trying to do is that in our area, if we see something un-Islamic happening, we try to stop it, because we are responsible for our own area.”

The members of this radical religious movement are Pakistani, but they’re inspired by the Afghan Taleban. They support its leader Mullah Omar, rather than Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf.

Abdul Rashid Ghazi -    is a radical Pakistani cleric, son of Maulana Muhammad Abdullah and younger brother of Abdul Aaziz Ghazi.

This is another spark igniting a Middle East wildfire.

Don’t forget, there are Nukes at the other end of this story…

Musharraf, Pakistan, Clerics – Who Will Win The Nukes?

Islamabad: clerics to negotiate mosque surrender   Xinhua, China -
BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhuanet) — Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf at a high-level meeting Monday decided to give clerics more time to persuade …

Cleric sees standoff as a trigger in Pakistan   Chicago Tribune, United States -
By Mubashir Zaidi and Laura King ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Fears deepened Sunday about the fate of hostages reportedly being held by Islamic militants in a …

Gunfire but no assault seen yet at Pakistan mosque   Canada.com, Canada -
Workers block a road with barbed wire near Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, during a curfew in Islamabad July 8, 2007. Islamist militants in a Pakistani mosque …

Musharraf Will Let Clerics Negotiate   Guardian Unlimited, UK -
From AP AP Photo XAN107, XAN102, XAN105, XDG101 By SADAQAT JAN AP Writer ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) – President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Monday gave clerics …

Pakistan mosque siege in 7th day   Irish Times, Ireland -
Security forces fired tear gas and traded gunfire with Islamist militants in a Pakistani mosque compound today, but there was no sign of an imminent assault …

Pakistan calls mosque leaders terrorists   MLive.com, MI -
By SADAQAT JAN AP ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf convened a high-level meeting Monday on how to crack a nearly week-long …

With elections looming, Musharraf’s western alliances alert to the risks at stake, America’s candidates need to be addressing this, RIGHT NOW!  Pakistan’s nuclear assets and technology are on fragile footing.  The nuclear prize is dangling before all the players.  Taleban and radical Islamists see chaos as the tool to topple Musharraf if they cannot assassinate him.  The coming elections will be strained at best.  Our full attention should be on the outcome of Pakistan’s politics.  Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan “freedom fighters” will hold all the aces if they take Pakistan!

What One Little Crisis Can Do For A Career

” I will order action if the media promises it will not show dead bodies “

Mosque raid boosts Musharraf image By Aamer Ahmed Khan, BBC Service, General Pervez Musharraf

 

Barely two weeks ago, Pakistan’s military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, was battling for his political survival. The war drums being beaten by the opposition at home were reaching a crescendo.
Major embarrassment -  Jamia Hafsa – a seminary affiliated with one of the city’s oldest mosques, known as the Red Mosque – had been running circles around the Islamabad administration since the beginning of this year. Demanding strict enforcement of Sharia (Islamic law), Red Mosque clerics had let loose moral squads on the capital to “prevent vices and promote virtue” – a concept first institutionalized by the Taleban in Afghanistan. These moral squads, consisting of armed male and female students, were going around the city threatening music shop owners, and kidnapping women over allegations of operating brothels.

Concern in the West  – The president repeatedly said if the government tried to use force, the clerics would unleash suicide bombers who could kill dozens.

“The same people including the media who are currently demanding that the government take action will then turn around and start accusing the government of killing its own people,” he said at one of his public appearances earlier this year. “I will order action if the media promises it will not show dead bodies,” Gen Musharraf  said on another occasion.

“The turning point clearly was the abduction of the Chinese massage parlour girls,”  says a senior diplomat in Islamabad.

“We know that the Chinese sent a very strong message that they could take losses in Balochistan or the tribal belt but were not prepared to see their citizens abducted and tortured bang in the heart of the capital.”

Musharraf is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t pursue a secular system. The US encourages Secular and his opponents want a strict Islamic state.

Increased attacks in Afghanistan by Pakistan-based Taleban in the first six months of the year had also started to cause concern in Western capitals.

The influential British and American media had started to revisit skeletons that President Musharraf had worked so hard to bury.

Musharraf has used Radical Islamic Militias to fight proxy wars with India & Kashmir.

As the nation inches closer to elections later in the year and a decision from General Musharraf on his dual role as president and army chief, he will be focusing all his energies on getting just one message across: He is still the West’s best bet against radical Islam who can move decisively as and when needed.

America needs Musharraf and seems willing to forgive his sins as long as he supports the War Against Terror. How long will he survive when he has so many trying to eliminate him … how long will our War Against Terror survive if the opposition succeeds?

Why isn’t this front page news? Where do our candidates stand?