Steve Schippert blogs for Threats Watch and The Tank. Via email – “The one to watch in Pakistan is Nawaz Sharif – his ‘Long March” protests engineered were not about democracy and judges but rather the specific judges that would remove the ban on him (and later, on his brother) from holding elected office. That he is a useful idiot for the AQ-Taliban – and a bridge, of sorts, to keep Pak politcal power seat warm for their own man. Well, well, well… Look what just happened in Pakistan.“
Pakistan’s main opposition party on Tuesday received a major boost to its fast growing popularity after two of its key leaders returned to mainstream politics following the end of a battle in the Supreme Court.
The Pakistani Supreme Court suspended an earlier ruling that had disqualified Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister, and his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif, from contesting elections to the federal and the provincial parliaments.
The verdict opened the way for the younger Mr Sharif to return as chief minister of the populous Punjab province, just over a month after he was forced to quit and direct federal rule was imposed on the province.
The disqualification had prompted Mr Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister and leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), to lead a successful political campaign culminating with big street protests in Lahore, capital of the Punjab.
“I am thankful to the Almighty God for this restoration through a great people revolution,” the younger Mr Sharif said after the Supreme Court announced its verdict.
Under intense pressure from the Sharif brothers, Mr Zardari earlier restored Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary as chief justice of the Supreme Court more than two years after he was sacked by former president Pervez Musharraf.
Steve explains –
“Unclear still whether Nawaz has been fully made eligible for office. Digging for better native Pakistani coverage via painfully slow connection & limited time.
Make no mistake, Sharif is no “champion of democratic rights.” He, like every other party leadership in Pakistan, is hopelessly corrupt. Those who favor him simply prefer his corruption to that of others. He was banned for this corruption, as tried in courts. But of course, his accusations – true, generally – come and came from others in a game of pots calling kettles black.
So what’s the difference among them? Nawaz Sharif has never and likely will never criticize the Taliban and bin Laden’s al-Qaeda. There are reasons for this.
Also, Sharif is in favor of ending all cooperation with the US and NATO regarding fighting AQ/Taliban. He sees America as a Pakistani enemy.
He will soon be Pakistan’s President. Game changer. Don’t listen to Financial Times drivel about “Champion of Democracy” and Western investors longing for him. Whether they do or do not, whomever they are, his ascention will signal Pakistan one step closer to falling to those we are fighting.
Sharif is reported to have received “massive” campaign donations from Bin Laden in previous runs at Pakistan’s PM’s office . More background here.
(Related – “Flash! Neanderthal “War On Terror” is now officially declared over. Flash! Neanderthal Taliban Mehsud promises to hit D.C.!”)
Sharif is reported to have received “massive” campaign donations from Bin Laden in previous runs at Pakistan’s PM’s office .
Gee doesn’t that sound familiar. I wonder if the Tali Ban has an Acorn office as well?
The MSM is on his side as well hum……..
Not sure if this is true, but I read recently that the New York state terror compound — ISLAMBERG — which I believe is Paki-based, was vacated. Makes me very nervous, esp. in light of this cat’s bold warning.
This may be totally paranoid but I keep thinking of those compounds dotting the US and Canada.
My comment on a post by Paul Wells:
“US to take really serious military action in Pakistan?”
Mark
Ottawa
I was always suspicious over these “Lawyers protests”.
What he says fits …
Islamberg
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,281074,00.html
If the T’bans or AQs hit the US under The One, then it will be the best and worst for The Messiah.
The Best because he will, unlike the HatefulDubbya, whip up the blood-lust of Americans for personal popularity, to prove his patriotism (which is always under suspicion).
The Worst, because he would have to put on hold his democratic party socialist program.
But RW, it will be another crisis not to waste!
the “One” has already counted the sucessful ND flood control as an example of how he can hold back the tides.
despite the efforts of the locals to sandbag , the “one ” was closely monitoring the situation from afar . Michelle had her pipes finely tuned to do a sandbag photo op if need be.
meanwhile at the G20 , dining on lobster bisque and collard greens “the one” assumes the position of leader on the western world. never before has the position been , bent over a table.
This is a surprise, how?
Sharif routinely comandeered militants in the 1990s to fight India. Under his watch, India and Pakistan nearly went to war in 1999 – they were shooting at each other on a daily basis for months.
Sharif was Zia ul Haq’s stooge. Zia ul Haq was the man the Soviet’s considered a ‘useful idiot’ of Reagans – he set up the Mujahideen that defeated the Soviets in Afghanistan. Sharif, like Zia, is a sly and smart sob.
He was built on Zia’s money and patronage, and he is a very religious man with close ties to the Saudis, who saved him from Musharraf and granted him exile. Its a pity he was allowed back to Pakistan at all. I’m not sure that the Saudi’s would have allowed him back to Pakistan without Bush’s acquiesence and pressure – Musharaff hates Sharif because of their little incident in 1999 that nearly saw Musharraf end up in the hands of the Indian government. Besides, theres very little the Saudi government does without consulting the US.
Nobody on this side of the planet knew who Nawaz was until recently. Its always funny watching people who’ve so astutely ignored a certain part of the world take such a sudden interest in it. The proud ignorance of a region suddenly gives way to armchair scholars who pronounce a whole lot of nothing. It reminds me of Ms. South Carolinas speech at the Miss America contest.
For once, I can say thank god for Obama. At least he is willing to take the fight to Pakistan, which is more than we can say for Bush. Bush should have gone in in 2001. He hesitated. At what price?
So GW was an Idiot for propping up Musharraf??
NOT …. expedient and nothing more.
Time to get some nukes pointed at Pakistan.
What is interesting is how the islamofascists have reacted to the “O’s” overtures.
The islamofascists heavily depend on charismatic leaders and hopefully, mistakenly, underestimate his potential reaction….
“So GW was an Idiot for propping up Musharraf??”
No. GW was an idiot for agreeing to allow Sharif back into Pakistan when Musharraf made it quite clear that he wanted Sharif to stay away from Pakistan.
He supported Musharraf. Then he supported allowing Sharif back in the name of “democracy”. Some might call it flip-flopping.
Bush should have bombed the Northern regions of Pakistan – the real home of the Taleban. Instead he chose to give them military aid, including f-16s. It would have been easy targetting those nukes in 2001 – they were mostly all at Sargodha. Now they have been carefully dispersed across the country. To keep them out of the hands of militants. And to make it difficult for the Americans to target them. Guess who has the upper hand?
Oh, and Nawaz has an important backer in a small country in the region that we know as China. America can point nukes at whomever it wants. Can’t do much though. The Chinese might have looked away if America had acted in 2001. They are unlikely to do that now.
Kate,
Weird question: did Steve say how soon Sharif would become Pakistani Prez?
I ask because India’s monthlong election starts in two weeks – and the opposition BJP was in power when India waxed him in 1999.
The higher Sharif’s profile, the higher the BJP vote total I suspect (and hope).
“Weird question: did Steve say how soon Sharif would become Pakistani Prez?”
Sharif won’t become President. He will become Prime Minister, if anything, and will dismantle some of the Powers of the President. The President of Pakistan is a nominal position akin to our Governor General. Musharraf changed that by revising the constitution for the 4 th time in 60 years. You can bet it will be revised again.
Sharif also has one very important enemy in the Pakistani establishment – the Army. They hate him because of the Musharaff incident. Don’t forget that this Army is Musharaff’s army – he purged anyone not loyal to him. Truth is, his becoming PM or President has no bearing on anything unless the Army gives up its power. It won’t. Especially if it believes that Sharif might compromise its position both domestically and vis-a-vis the US, which remains its main supplier.
The BJP isn’t particularly anti-thetical to Sharif, nor is he seen as being more dangerous than any other Pakistani in India. They are all viewed as equal threats regardless of the noises they make in public. Nobody in India cares who becomes Prime Minister or President – Pakistan remains a security threat no matter how it pans out.
Ironically enough, the BJP is less hostile to Pakistan than the others. Its current leader, who would become PM if they won, recently declared, in Pakistan, that partition was the correct course of action. No Congress Party member or any other member will ever acknowledge it as the correct course of action – nor will most, if not all, Indians (Pakistan has always been viewed as a mistake by the Congress establishemt – and this view, which has been expressed on several occassions, is used by the Pakistani Army to strengthen its position by depicting these views as indicative of India’s hope of reversing partition). Advani (BJP leader) took a lot of flack for it – so rest assured that he is not going to be in an advantageous position if Sharif rises.
On a separate note, nobody is willing to predict the outcome of India’s vote, but the BJP led coalition is looking the weakest going into these elctions. The anti-muslim/anti-christian communal card that the BJP banks on, has lost its appeal in light of the economic crisis.