In the Line of Fire, A Review

Nauman sahib great review on Musharraf`s book -- so well organized so well presented.
Here is my summary of 6 parts distinguished life:

First part – after the brain injuries caused by falling from mango upside down megalomaniac delusions of reincarnated Ataturk

Second Part – an army cat with nine lives

Third Part – hijacking of a government at gunpoint to save one’s job

Part four – collecting a corrupt cabal of PML Quislings under the Damocles’ sword
called NAB or NABOB

Part five – serving as Gungadeen for the neo-colonial army – tying the turbaned twits on the turrets of colonial canons

Last part – summarizing a career of biting each and every hand that fed the Pallo miaN beginning from Nawaz Sharif to ending with Dr Qadeer Khan.

No matter what, the Man is a DICTATOR. And that`s the irony of it. tsk, tsk, tsk.

Nauman Mian

Your review of HIM took you to write such a long essay, but, my review is only one word.

DICTATOR. This word speaks for itself and there is no better review than this word alone.

This single word doesn`t need any intro or literature to prove my single word review.

Bye

``book but it is written nicely and Musharraf`s sense of humor is excellent. ``

LOL, MMai`s rape remark shows the standard of his sense of humor!!!

Stop this boot licking!!!

Mr. Hasan: I agree with most points that you`ve raised. But you know being a skeptic is always easy and it is difficult to build a system or to govern a country of 160 million people with myriads of social, economic and political problems. Even democracy itself ``Will of the majority`` is not a perfect system of government but no doubt it is the best possible one. So if you criticize a person or a theory then you should offer its substitutes. What`s substitutes do we have in Pakistan`s political scenario? Benazir and Nawaz Sharif? Both corrupt and inefficient. The brother of the prime minister is killed by her husband and she can`t give justice to her mother, how can we expect that she will give justice to the people? Another elected despot wins a two thirds majority, passes amendments to the constitutions without debate and in the matter of minutes, fires army chief, and his lackeys attack the Supreme Court, are these constitutional and legal means?

Zeena: My answer is the same. If Musharraf is a dictator, do you think that our kleptocratic politicians truly believe in democracy, democratic norms and democratic culture?

Ballukhan: The whole world admits that Musharraf`s press conferences are interesting he is honest, frank, intelligent and has a good sense of humor. And he did not pay me any money or some other reward to write this article. It was just my opinion and in a tolerant society opposing viewpoints are respected not condemned.

#4 by ballukhan on January 9, 2007 11:55pm PT

The pope and a dictator walk into a bar....

#5
Mr.Nauman

Sadly, it is people like you who encourage DICTATORSHIP in Pakistan. Unfortunately, Pakistan has had been hijacked by Military dictators right from the beginning who are the main reason Pakistan is down the drain.

Musharaf haS absolutely NO right to be the head of the state. What right Ayub, Zia and now Musharaf have ? These idiots are payed by Pakistani people to serve Pakistan for defense purposes, not for ruling them.

Democracy, democratic norms, democratic culture......blah, blah, blah these are the words , very alien to these dictators, who never have had given any chance to Pakistani people to grow and to have their own democracy, means by the people and for the people.

Even if, politicians are corrupt, it doesn`t mean we should hault the process of democracy to grow, if, democracy continues, it filters the wrong ones itself. But, to close the sewage with a bigger sewage, thats not the answer.

Pakistan`s economy and regression, all is b/c of the military dictators in the past, present and future.

What kind of culture you want to give to the Pakistani people?

Corrupt military mafia culture?

Ad, Please, don`t try to justfiy these military dictators at any cost, they STINK in their uniforms. They are open examples of betrayals for the people of Pakistan.

``In fact President Musharraf does have a constituency of his own, i.e. the educated and liberal middle class of Pakistan. ``

Aha! The truth comes out! 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.
And, at the same time they never tire of condemning the mullahs of trying the same thing with Gen. Zia.
Such hypocrisy!

#7
I am sorry to say but zeena you are an idiot. Either you are a person who does not believe in reality or 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.
``Even if, politicians are corrupt, it doesn`t mean we should hault the process of democracy to grow, if, democracy continues, it filters the wrong ones itself. But, to close the sewage with a bigger sewage, thats not the answer. ``
Actually that is the answer. Your so called politicians are not just corrupt. They are evil to the core famous for doing nothing for you or anyone else. You would rather have people like Benazir and Nawaz to run your country and to steer them towards bankruptcy(fact) rather than have a system where people are responsible. You would rather have democracy so that Asif Zardari can openly be involved in murder, looting etc as long as you can sit with your gora friends and boast that your country has democracy. I am sick and tired of idiots like you who have no sense of right and wrong but are always in the front screaming their mantra at the top of their lungs. Let me remind you in case you have forgotten that 11 years of democracy gave us nothing except a cluture of murder, bribes, and economic failure. The huddod ordinance was still there because none of them had the guts to do anything about it even though the Mullahs were not even that strong. Pakistan was considered a failed state by everyone. Their Bonds held no value and were in a classification of C. Right now they are either AAA or something close to that.
``Pakistan`s economy and regression, all is b/c of the military dictators in the past, present and future. ``
This is the most idiotic statement I have read. Are you going to tell me that that Pakistan was actually going in the right direction during the so called great years of Nawaz and Benazir. Have you forgotten the killings, looting of wealth, bribery that occured in Karachi. No one could leave their house after 7 in the evening. But maybe you are from Punjab where everything was great.
Let me ask you - are you a Punjabi? because only a Punjabi can say that democracy worked in Pakistan. Because the only people who got anything out of those 11 years were Punjabis.
You talk about corrupt military mafia culture only because people like you dont stand to gain anything from it. You would rather have corrupt politician mafia culture. Do you conveniently forget that this same corrupt military mafia cuture is the reason that you are even allowed to say things that you are saying. 8 years ago you could not even open your mouth in the co-called democratic country of Pakistan without the fear of getting killed. Now that you have this freedom you take advantage of it by spewing all this hate and ignorance on this website.
``Democracy, democratic norms, democratic culture......blah, blah, blah these are the words , very alien to these dictators, who never have had given any chance to Pakistani people to grow and to have their own democracy, means by the people and for the people. ``
These words might be alien to the military but unfortnately these words are also alien to your so-called politicians. Democracy only works if there is a democratic infra structure in place. What infrastructure do you have in place? You would rather have a democratic system where poor people have no right to vote except to go and stamp on their zameendar`s name so he can join the assembly or the system which allowed Benazir to run from 3 different places, or the system where you vote for someone who belongs to one party but then changes his allegiance to achieve monetary gains from the other political party.
Actually the author is right. The educated liberal middle calss knows that this regime is the only good thing that has happened in the past 20 years. They got tired of Idiots like you who are willing to bring back Benazir and Nawaz because you cannot afford any change. You cannot imagine a world where rich people will have to answer to the poor people, where there will be some kind of development because it threatens your way of life. You harp on the bad points of this government while conveniently forgetting what the co-called democratic governments have done nothing.
I totally believe in democracy but I cannot allow Benazir and Nawaz to come back to plunder Pakistan`s wealth. And for that reason alone I would rather have Musharaff. Democracy only works when when politicians are not inherently evil.

Re: # 2
You are an IDIOT. Dictator is much better than being an idiot - wont you say....

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.

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.

#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...

#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.

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??

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.