In the Line of Fire, A Review

Nauman sahib -- my angst against Musharraf is that he comes from no where and yet he is full of it -- he himself treads on thin ice but keeps the two leaders Benazir and Nawaz Sharif `exiled` -- declares to the world that he wants a free fair transparent election in 2007 -- yet without the personal participation of two major party leaders!!! -- what kind of election it will be

to me -- it sounds more like a transparent selection than a transparent election!

why he is so afraid of these two leaders -- if he can live with the crowded cabal of corrupt quislings all around him -- and puts up with their stink -- why can`t he `adjust` to the presence of two `non quislings` ?

is he the King of Pakistan that everybody should work at his pleasure and at his daily whims -- if he is so tough as depicted in the book why he is SO mortally afraid of just TWO individuals -- both ex prime ministers...

he has the guts to be in the line of fire from the entire world but shakes with fear being in the line of fire from Benazir and Nawaz Sharif -- why? Why such a personal grudge or more like a irrational phobia?

Why he has to be re-elected twice by the same rump NA stuffed with the NAB-driven majority of his corrupt to the bone quislings -- can`t he get elected/selected by the new NA in 2007?

-- why is he afraid of Benzir and Nawaz personally leading their own parties in 2007 as it is normally done in India or anywhere in a democratic country -- why Pakistan has to be like Burma not India.

There CANNOT be a fair free transparent election worth a dime without the personal participation of Benazir and Nawaz Sharif leading their parties in 2007 elections.

unless Musharraf`s `progressive` rhetoric matches his personal behavior -- he will remain a pariah in my eyes -- despite his shallow progressivism.

Re: # 22

``-- otherwise they will bring yet another hooded Al Moqtadar Al Baloch with the hangman`s noose in one hand and the video phone in another shouting -- Al Bugti.... Al Bugti...!``

Right on the spot !!

``someone who has lived majority of their life outside Pakistan and is totally in love with words like ``democracy`` and ``power to the people`` without knowing the true maening behind those words. ``

LOL again!! Nice to know people in Pakistan know all the ``truths`` and their ``correct meaning`` about words like ``democracy`` and ``power to the people`` .

Please continue with your propaganda. Atleast we are not swayed by it!!!

Nauman-

I will comment on the article later since I had made a few observations after reading I guess 1 or 2 chapters of the book. My observations weren`t that positive about his stance, but then there are various factors that can contribute to where the General is coming from.

Rest later.

Re: # 1

one cautionary note for Musharraf for his habit of biting the hands that feed him -- do not try this with the Americans -- howsoever hard pressed and humiliated you feel under their tutelage -- otherwise they will bring yet another hooded Al Moqtadar Al Baloch with the hangman`s noose in one hand and the video phone in another shouting -- Al Bugti.... Al Bugti...!

His daughter`s name is Ayla!! :D

The changes that Lahore has seen are only in places where Nawaz Sharif and his brother used to pass through frequently. The stretch of road that links Mal Road to their Raiwind land. They spent all the tax money to build underpasses along the canal so that they can travel from Point A to B without stopping at a traffic signal! Even during Benazir`s time, the Mal Road area underwent a big change when the Islamic Conference was held in Pakistan. Millions were spent on diplomatic buildings that have no use today. What has Lahore gained from that really? It hasn`t improved the lives of the people. They are living in the same slums as they were before. Sewage, electricity, crime, and clean water are just as big an issue as in Karachi. The only areas with adequate water are those who have paid for a pumping facility to extract water from the ground. As far as the government is concerned, they are more worried about the curtains at the place where the next foreign diplomat is going to stay.
The politicians, no matter where they are from, have only improved the city so far as to improve their own lives or to give an illusion to the rest of the world how much the country has developed under them. The illusion that other Pakistanis have about Punjab being a province of gold is what the politicians in other areas are selling to their people in order to convince them that they should elect from their own people. Needless to say, like Benazir, the chances of them keeping their words will be next to zero. It is precisely that illusion which can break sindh and punjab apart and neither people will gain anything from it except become more vulnerable to the outside world.

#16
And what proof do you have in favour of a military dictator, except, for shamelessness?

Democracy by all means itself is an open proof for any given govt. any where in the world.

Tell me why it is so hard to keep democracy for gentle pakistani people?

I am sure, if, Pakis are given a constant filteration process of selection via democracy , they`ll endup having an established democracy and they`ll grow. But, I don`t think military corrupt dictators will give`em any chance to grow on their own.

They treat pakis subhumans and they have made`em more deprived and mentally suppressed that now they have become simply dummies with no say.

#16

You started calling me name and now playing innocent. No wonder, you love dictators.

#16 and #10

LOL , over your interact # 10 and 11, who started calling me names. Obviously you and now you`re so much demented that forgot in seconds, who started calling me names without any good and valid points.

Now, tell me, if, I don`t call you idiot or not. And still favouring martial law. Wonderful.

Enjoy your martial law, if, thats what you wish to choose. But, remember there is not a single country who has progressed under martial law.

Any kind of diplomacy is far far far better than any kind of dictator.

Why Pakistan got freedom from British colonization? b/c of this dictatorship.

Well, where has been freedom? engulfed by Ayubs, Zias and Musharafs.....LOL , idiots.

Re: # 14
lol - this is the strength of your argument to call me names without giving me one single proof of what the so-called sham democracy has done for you. Actually I work for people arguing against the martial-law and I also work for people who are not proud to be enslaved. You are the one who is actually showing the slave mentality by repeating the ``white`` mantra of democracy without realizing that Pakistan is too weak internally to withstand the force of these corrupt politicians. You want democracy then stop shouting democracy an work to strengthen the institutions. Shout about implementing agriculture and farming tax. Shout about the corrupt political practices. Shout about the Surrey Palace and The Raiwaind Estate. Shout about the poverty and shout about the corruption in every facet of Pakistan`s life. Shout about strengthening your judicial system. Shout against Huddod Law, and shout against Nawaz and benazir. Dont just sit there and dance on the tune of Democracy without knowing what it takes. It will take much more than Musharaf stepping down. The only thing that will do is to allow the same faces to come back again and this time actually bankrupt Pakistan. Then after another 11 years another General will come and you will start shouting ``Democracy `` again. What will you do then. Sit with your white cronies and be happy that Pakistan at least was a democracy. Grow Up Zeena, and look at the realities.
saadmad, you are correct. I should not have brought up ethnicity while talking about this. But when idiots like Zeena start babbling people who actually work to make their country better sometimes lose it. I should have known better. Lahore is truly a city which saw the change and because of who the prime minister and chief minister of Punjab were. But is that what democracy is about?
I truly think that once the institutions are strong enough, once city governments are as strong as the provincial governments, once the corrupt politicians are taken to task, and once we decide that Nawaz and benazir will never be elected to the government, it will be time for true democracy. I truly believe that Army should have no role in politics as long as the politicians are doing their job.

Re: #8 by khurram

``The `educated and liberal middle class of Pakistan` not having a democratic majority of their own decide to support a dictator to implement their agenda.``

...as opposed to what?? Which class are you from? The uneducated and chained one?? You`re not a mullah are you??

And what`s the agenda of this class?? To have a stable government that is capable of surviving more than 3 years and complete the 5 year term?? Of seeing the economy recover from the lows of Nawaz Sharif`s times (after the nuclear tests, though I am in no way condemning those as it was necessary). To have someone capable of taking some steps to check the growing talibanisation of our western provinces??

#10 hasanmahmood
To me you`re either a retard, moron and simply idiot. And you know why you`re an idiot and moron with retarded mind? b/c of constant martial law in Pakistan which has suppressed your white matter of brain and look what has come out of you.

A simple moron, who can`t comprehend the clear cut difference between democracy and martial law. Look at you, idiot, who is shamelessly retarded that you`re proud to have martial law and an idiot dictator.

Look @ your retarded mind who is unable enjoy democracy and who is shamelessly proud to be enslaved by a dictator.

Who gave this dictator right to rule Pakistan? Yes, morons like you. And only a moron like you can be happy to see this dictator grow. tsk, tsk, tsk.

#11 by hasanmahmood on January 10, 2007 9:58am PT


Nawaz (who actually begged Clinton to allow him to test the atomic bomd)


Huh? This is a new paki delusion...Clinton told Nawaz not to test but he did it anyway...

Somehow I doubt Nawaz, out of fear for his life, would have kept quite when predator`s were dropping hellfires on paki citizens in pakiland...or he`d have put AQK under house arrest denying his family permission to meet him...

Pakis have a different version of history in their echo chamber of self-delusion..I`ll bet this goatbrain thinks Clinton begged Nawaz, in DC on the 4th of july, to withdraw from Kargil and Nawaz did so even though Pakiland was winning in Kargil...

Re: Zeena #7 and hasanmahmood #9

Even though I agree with hasanmahmood`s points, I wouldn`t put it in those words. Infact I was surprised to read him blaming Punjabis for everything as if all the politicians and rulers of Pakistan, through `democratic` or military means, were from Punjab! Benazair and her father, Bhutto, were not from Punjab. And neither her or her dad did anything for the country or their own city (except break it into two). Even Musharraf grew up in Karachi and is not a Punjabi...ever think about that??
I would suggest hasanmahmood to go to Faisalabad, the next important city in Punjab after Lahore and Isalamabad and he will see that it`s in no different state than Karachi. Even in Lahore, it is usually the areas where they want foreign diplomats to go to that are well developed (like when King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia came, they worked on those parts of Lahore where they took him through. The rest stayed the same). Otherwise it`s no different.

``Now that you have this freedom you take advantage of it by spewing all this hate and ignorance on this website`` - do I sense hypocrisy there hasanmahmood??

Coming to the discussion about dictators, then I am really glad that Nawaz Sharif or Benazir were nowhere near the prime minister`s seat in Pakistan! Can you imagine what would have happened. Nawaz Sharif, drunk with his own power, might have dismissed his Ch of Army and told Bush to appoint an american general instead. And Benazir would have moved to washington and appointed zardari as the Chief with a full license to treat the country as if it came in her dowry. I know that`s an exageration, but in essence that is how they treated Pakistan in the past and that is how they would have treated it in todays times.
The fact of the matter is Zeena, that Pakistanis do not deserve democracy!! They are so acutely divided into Punjabis, Sindhis, Baluchis and Pathans that they will simply vote for someone based on where they come from and not what they are capable of!! And if their chosen one gets elected, they just sit back thinking that he/she will wave a magic wand and their city will become another beverly hills. It never happens! The politicians know that and they make promises (and nothing more) to their own people in order to win. The common folks in Pakistan don`t really know what they want from their rulers...they don`t know who will be the best for them. Otherwise Nawaz Sharif or Benazir could never have been elected more than once, which they did, and most of the votes came from rural areas anyways. Do those people really know which candidate is most adept at improving the economy, reducing corruption and poverty and running the country?
I am not saying that dictators are good people. What I am saying is that Musharraf seems to be one of the better ones (much better than Zia) and so far, given his task and the sensitive issue of `war on terror`, no democratically elected prime minister could have done better.

Re: # 1
actually if you look at the facts - of Musharaf was not there, Dr. Abdul Kadeer Khan would have been in a jail in Guatanamo Bay. So he did not bite every hand. Do you really think that Benazir and Nawaz (who actually begged Clinton to allow him to test the atomic bomd) would have guts to stand up to the world pressure against Khan. I dont think so. So think before you write or do you just like to see your name on this website.