Time for a fresh start

``...it is only in exceptional circumstances that exceptional changes can occur.``

Well said, it`s not too idealistic to ask for the basic human rights (freedom, liberty and a

prosperous life ), which the country was in first place created. It`s time now for Pakistan`s

army general to have at least enough vision to create or start the process to achieve that

promise land which the great Qauid & Iqbal had dreamed of.

His start is at least positive that he didn`t impose martial law right away and he is gathering

top most legal experts (incld. rtd. Chief Jst Sajjad Ali Shah) to get out of this mess and

find a way out.

Your solution of two yrs interim govt. sounds good, which ex-PM Moeen Quereshi also

has suggested earlier. Bring on the right and able technocrats and let start building the

economy and world confidence in us. But let it be clear that the roots of democracy won?t

jeopardize with this process.

52 years are enough to learn from our mistakes and short sightdness, let the new era of

modern Pakistan begins, a true modern Islamic country with tolerance to each other and

respect for different opinions.

Re: Ibne Sina

You say ``the meddling of the military into civilian and political affairs is a sure recipe for disaster,`` then you say ``[m]ilitary intervention is not desirable, but there is a silver lining to this cloud.`` They are conflicting statements.

I do, however, agree with your second statement and with the rest of the article following it.

This is a golden chance for Pakistan to put its house in order and root out the cancer that is Benazir and Nawaz, and to ensure that those like them don`t rise up the political ladder to loot, rape and destroy a country we all love, and if they do they must be held accountable immediately and punished accordingly.

``[I]t is only in exceptional circumstances that exceptional changes can occur.? Very true. I hope it works for Pakistan this time round.

A good article, a brilliant conclusion, wish to parallel the changes brought about in japan by douglas mcarther.

McArther was an american who could see the nature of the japanese society from an outsiders perspective. Sorry to disappoint you, Musaraf is no outsider, he is the one who benefitted and exploited (he was happy when his predecessor was forced to leave), the system and could not accept when the same destiny of his predecessor fell on him. He is a product, in fact a succesful product of the system and his only desire will be to protect and preserve the previlages, a motive which macarther could not have had in japan.

Ibne_sina:

Gotta agree with pretty much everything you have stated. BB and NS should be out. Army needs to go back to barracks. Interim govt. of technocrats, who have proven their dedication to Pakistan, for two years. This is not as idealistic as some might think. If the govt. was kicked out in two hours, without a shot being fired, and with hardly anyone in Pakistan complaining, then introducing massive reforms may also not be that hard.

Jay:

It is hard to make a judgement about Gen. Musharaff`s motives. I do not know whether he exploited any situation or not. We will only find out once he makes his next move.

I do not think Pakistan will have extended military rule. Zia was able to get away with it, because the Americans had vested interest in Pakistan, due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Because of this, they did not oppose Zia and kept pumping money in. Now that situation does not exist, so even the military will not be able to survive if the international community cuts off all aid and trade with Pakistan.

In response to jay (Reply # 3):

Dear jay:

Your statement: ``He [General Musharraf] is a product, in fact a succesful product of the system and his only desire will be to protect and preserve the previlage. . . .``

Comment: I fully agree with you. We are so obsessed about some key personalities that we forget completely about the structures (e.g. institutions, power relations).

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

P.S. No offence to any particular Chowkwalla, I suggest that we pay some attention to critical social theory. A good source is Anthony Giddens (1979). Central Problems in Social Theory. London: Macmillan.

Interesting article by Brian Cloughley, in The News: Pakistan.

Exit of another government

Brian Cloughley

The coup, thank God, the coup! It is what we have all been wanting for over a year, now, and at last Nawaz Sharif has gone too far and forced the hand of the military. Nobody, myself least of all, would ever have thought of Pervaiz Musharraf as a coup leader. Not in a thousand years. Which just goes to show that circumstances alter people dramatically. Faithful readers will recollect that I referred to him in my ``A History of the Pakistan Army`` as a ``first-rate officer`` which he was at the time of the comment being made, and still is. He will go down in the annals as the saviour of Pakistan from the clutches of a man who, in spite of possessing little brain, was cunning and thought he could outmanoeuvre everybody else.

How Mr Sharif could possibly have imagined that the sacking of a chief justice, attempted suborning of the entire juridical system, dismissal of a president, forced resignation of an army chief, and monstrous politicisation of the civil service could benefit the country is beyond imagination. He was the most powerful prime minister the country has ever had, but he was incapable of understanding that there were limits to what he could do. And all he wanted to do was to continue in power. There was no national agenda; no thought to anyone or anything beyond the influence of the brothers and their father, the eminence in the background who gave Pakistan the ineffectual Tarar as president. World reaction to the appointment of Tarar was at first disbelief, then laughter. And this is the way Nawaz Sharif`s actions have been regarded for too long.

What now? I cannot imagine Musharraf relishing the role of Zia. Far from it. I see him handing over ek dum to a band of technocrats who will run the country for the next two years. It was coincidence, of course (and I do not mean that ironically) that Moeen Qureshi gave an interview to this newspaper that was published on coup day, and that he spoke of a caretaker government. We have not forgotten his last wise and effective administration, the initiatives of which, alas, were destroyed by Benazir`s band of sycophants. I don`t blame Benazir. She was led astray by a bunch of disgusting, greedy men, most of whom had but one claim to inclusion in governance: some degree of loyalty to her father, which, of course, she could not ignore. I remember, after the PPP electoral victory in 1993, attending a party at which there were several members of her cabinet and other close associates. Most of them were to accompany BB on an overseas visit next morning. It was fairly typical Islamabad party: both alcohol and conversation were unlimited, and a good time was had by all. I enjoyed myself greatly because I engaged one minister in conversation about Moeen Qureshi`s initiatives, especially about the rule of law and the capping of the nuclear programme. He guffawed when I mentioned them. ``We`ll let all that go,`` he said. When I looked perplexed he laughed again. ``Well it didn`t mean much, did it?`` He left the party at 2:30 in the morning to go to the airport to get on board the VIP aircraft. I often wondered what his hangover was like, but never got to know because he avoided me like the plague thereafter. Such was the eclectic competence of some of those who were the country`s leaders.

This coup round, the army must hand over to Moeen right away. He must then attract all the brilliant Pakistanis who are at present working in UN, World Bank and IMF appointments to come back and run the country. The UN, WB and IMF will be only too anxious to continue to pay their salaries for such time as they are in the interim government, which must continue for a minimum of two years; preferably three. Forget the witch-hunt for corrupt politicians. They were all corrupt. Cast them to the outer darkness and never let them be in a position to again beggar the country. Two years is enough for new political parties to be formed and to construct platforms. Nawaz and little brother should be put out to pasture and ignored--except for beginning to pay tax. And back-taxes, too. There is no future for BB in politics in Pakistan. She did not pursue the Qureshi initiatives last time, and there is no reason to believe she will do that in the unlikely event of anyone voting for her again.

The first sweep of the new broom should be imposition of taxation. I find it incredible that my friends in the civil service should be paying more tax than Nawaz Sharif and Farooq Leghari, to name only two of hundreds of thousands--HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS--of rich Pakistanis who are paying nothing or nearly nothing for the upkeep of their country. (Some of my friends are in this category, and I am sorry, folks, but the day has come. Anyway, you will still be pretty well off…). Concurrently, Islamic extremists should be warned that one move onto the streets outside the rule of law, just one step out of line, and their leaders will be prosecuted with the full vigour of the judicial process--and no nonsense about what from of law is to be involved, either. The farce of the IPPs would take proper economists about a month to sort out, as would the other fiscal and financial measures that are so vital for Pakistan.

Then the Qureshi government could deal with the plight of women; then education, health, clean water--the whole gamut of services that have been ignored by successive governments who did nothing for the people of Pakistan. Yellow cabs and corruptly-arranged motorways, overseas jaunts and the VIP culture, exploitation of the people by the few--all these will be consigned to the past. But they will still be remembered, just in case anyone tries anything like this again: the ruin, on a gigantic scale, of what could have been a prosperous nation 40 years ago.

All power to Moeen Qureshi (for I hope it is he who will lead the country), and his band of self-effacing technocrats who will guide Pakistan to a new future. And all power to Pervaiz Musharraf and the military, who, back in their barracks, will be prepared to defend Pakistan from external threats, while securing its internal frontiers from insidious attack by the corrupt and vicious mafias who have plundered the country for so long.

Interesting article by Brian Cloughley, in The News: Pakistan.

Exit of another government

Brian Cloughley

The coup, thank God, the coup! It is what we have all been wanting for over a year, now, and at last Nawaz Sharif has gone too far and forced the hand of the military. Nobody, myself least of all, would ever have thought of Pervaiz Musharraf as a coup leader. Not in a thousand years. Which just goes to show that circumstances alter people dramatically. Faithful readers will recollect that I referred to him in my ``A History of the Pakistan Army`` as a ``first-rate officer`` which he was at the time of the comment being made, and still is. He will go down in the annals as the saviour of Pakistan from the clutches of a man who, in spite of possessing little brain, was cunning and thought he could outmanoeuvre everybody else.

How Mr Sharif could possibly have imagined that the sacking of a chief justice, attempted suborning of the entire juridical system, dismissal of a president, forced resignation of an army chief, and monstrous politicisation of the civil service could benefit the country is beyond imagination. He was the most powerful prime minister the country has ever had, but he was incapable of understanding that there were limits to what he could do. And all he wanted to do was to continue in power. There was no national agenda; no thought to anyone or anything beyond the influence of the brothers and their father, the eminence in the background who gave Pakistan the ineffectual Tarar as president. World reaction to the appointment of Tarar was at first disbelief, then laughter. And this is the way Nawaz Sharif`s actions have been regarded for too long.

What now? I cannot imagine Musharraf relishing the role of Zia. Far from it. I see him handing over ek dum to a band of technocrats who will run the country for the next two years. It was coincidence, of course (and I do not mean that ironically) that Moeen Qureshi gave an interview to this newspaper that was published on coup day, and that he spoke of a caretaker government. We have not forgotten his last wise and effective administration, the initiatives of which, alas, were destroyed by Benazir`s band of sycophants. I don`t blame Benazir. She was led astray by a bunch of disgusting, greedy men, most of whom had but one claim to inclusion in governance: some degree of loyalty to her father, which, of course, she could not ignore. I remember, after the PPP electoral victory in 1993, attending a party at which there were several members of her cabinet and other close associates. Most of them were to accompany BB on an overseas visit next morning. It was fairly typical Islamabad party: both alcohol and conversation were unlimited, and a good time was had by all. I enjoyed myself greatly because I engaged one minister in conversation about Moeen Qureshi`s initiatives, especially about the rule of law and the capping of the nuclear programme. He guffawed when I mentioned them. ``We`ll let all that go,`` he said. When I looked perplexed he laughed again. ``Well it didn`t mean much, did it?`` He left the party at 2:30 in the morning to go to the airport to get on board the VIP aircraft. I often wondered what his hangover was like, but never got to know because he avoided me like the plague thereafter. Such was the eclectic competence of some of those who were the country`s leaders.

This coup round, the army must hand over to Moeen right away. He must then attract all the brilliant Pakistanis who are at present working in UN, World Bank and IMF appointments to come back and run the country. The UN, WB and IMF will be only too anxious to continue to pay their salaries for such time as they are in the interim government, which must continue for a minimum of two years; preferably three. Forget the witch-hunt for corrupt politicians. They were all corrupt. Cast them to the outer darkness and never let them be in a position to again beggar the country. Two years is enough for new political parties to be formed and to construct platforms. Nawaz and little brother should be put out to pasture and ignored--except for beginning to pay tax. And back-taxes, too. There is no future for BB in politics in Pakistan. She did not pursue the Qureshi initiatives last time, and there is no reason to believe she will do that in the unlikely event of anyone voting for her again.

The first sweep of the new broom should be imposition of taxation. I find it incredible that my friends in the civil service should be paying more tax than Nawaz Sharif and Farooq Leghari, to name only two of hundreds of thousands--HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS--of rich Pakistanis who are paying nothing or nearly nothing for the upkeep of their country. (Some of my friends are in this category, and I am sorry, folks, but the day has come. Anyway, you will still be pretty well off…). Concurrently, Islamic extremists should be warned that one move onto the streets outside the rule of law, just one step out of line, and their leaders will be prosecuted with the full vigour of the judicial process--and no nonsense about what from of law is to be involved, either. The farce of the IPPs would take proper economists about a month to sort out, as would the other fiscal and financial measures that are so vital for Pakistan.

Then the Qureshi government could deal with the plight of women; then education, health, clean water--the whole gamut of services that have been ignored by successive governments who did nothing for the people of Pakistan. Yellow cabs and corruptly-arranged motorways, overseas jaunts and the VIP culture, exploitation of the people by the few--all these will be consigned to the past. But they will still be remembered, just in case anyone tries anything like this again: the ruin, on a gigantic scale, of what could have been a prosperous nation 40 years ago.

All power to Moeen Qureshi (for I hope it is he who will lead the country), and his band of self-effacing technocrats who will guide Pakistan to a new future. And all power to Pervaiz Musharraf and the military, who, back in their barracks, will be prepared to defend Pakistan from external threats, while securing its internal frontiers from insidious attack by the corrupt and vicious mafias who have plundered the country for so long.

To Bilal Ahmed,

`Truth` and two nation theory.

I was taken to task, it was `temporal` i think for stating that a tenet of the two nation theory is to deny any links to india.

Now my good friend Bilal, read the biographical sketch of musarraf in Dawn. There is no mention that he was born in india and moved to pakistan when he was four. To admit that and to publicise it will be nothing short of blasphemy, if not an insult to the great man. There is no sensorship, but there is a self sensorship, the editors of dawn can feel it, they know the people, they know the version of two nation theory i am talking about, they cannot intelectualise it, they cannot debate it with you with the quotes and original texts....they simply put it into practice.

Now look at it from another perspective, it is great, a mujahir has come to the top, the diatribes against pakistan on the treatment of mujahirs will have note this as an exception, at least right at present it is a `moderate` face of pakistan. No no a pakistani cannot see this, the ditors of dawn cannot see this... what clouds their mind is the two nation.. a person born in india, the very name, even though `pakistan` was part of it, is the supremo of this country cannot be publically stated in pakistan.

Read the posts of `` two-nations``, he/she appears to be young, do not switch on your analytical mind, do not read with an intension of responding, juat aloww his passion and emotions sink into you, it takes only a few of him to build a nation, i rejoice in his presence on the chowk, may his voice echo from kargil to karachi. I hope my words of adulation, words from an indian, will not undermine his reach.

Re: Jay, #3

``[Musharaf] is the one who benefitted and exploited (he was happy when his predecessor was forced to leave)``.

And how do you know that? Unless you can provide evidence to support your statement, I`d say that, in light of your above statement, whatever you write is crap and you have no credibility.

Jay:

Everyone in the military knows that Musharraf was born in India; as does almost everyone in Pakistan. That is what the word muhajir means for people in his generation, right. There have been many muhajir generals, air marshals, admirals etc. It does not bother anyone in Pakistan or in the military. The loyalties of these military leaders, whether they are Muhajir, Punjabi, Pathan etc. is luckily with the military, and not with their ethnicities. That is why the military has been such a strong institution.

As I stated earlier, and my views grow stronger, as I read your posts, please do not criticize what you do not understand. You probably have never lived in Pakistan, I am certain you have never been part of the Pakistani military (so you have no idea how it works), yet you continue to make statements as if you are an expert. I encourage criticism from people who have some kind of an expertise in the area, but I do not think you fall into that category. You seem to know very little about the motivations of Pakistanis, and nothing about the Pakistani military. I do not mean disrespect to you. However, one should know one`s limit of knowlegde when one gets in a discussion. Otherwise your comments are just going to cuase confusion amongst Indians and Pakistanis.

In response to jay (Reply # 10):

Dear jay:

I and you have interacted a lot. As you know, my responses have been reasonably polite. I never appreciated your style of provocation, but I always believed that you were really interested in the affairs of Pakistan for the greater good of the people of South Asia. I regret to say hat I was wrong.

Jay, you are a person of above average intellegience (a point made earlier too). You are knowledeable, in general. You have a reasonably good command over English language. However, you have forced me to say that you are simply engaged in a cyber warfare and your objective is to create unnecessary tension in the minds of many young Pakistanis who are trying to develop a healthy critique of Pakistan. Your comments will also mislead a lot of young Indians who are interested in learning about Pakistan.

Now the ball is in your court, prove it that I am wrong about you. This time a simple statement will be not be sufficient.

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

P.S. Why don`t you reply to my postings when I ask you specific questions? There exists a Mohajir problem in Pakistan. Yet, there a lot of people of so-called Mohajir background in high positions in every walk of life (both public and private). I commend UR for writing a good and polite response (Reply # 12). I am also symthetic to his several other responses.

Jay,

Whether Bilal and UR accuse you to be provocative or not, facts remain facts. A discussion is a discussion and why have Bilal and UR chosen not to counter your points but rather take away from it by accusing you of provocation etc. Bilal especially was talking about young Indians and Pakistanis getting the wrong ideas, yah right! Climb down UR and Bilal from your high pedestals. Jay has pointed out some very interesting facts, the most recent being that a person of Indian birth is number 1 in Pakistan today. It is even more interesting and shocking to think that this Musharaff leads an Army against the soil of his birth and the home of his ancestors. It is very hard to understand the Pakistani mindset!

In response to Reply # 12 & 13:

I think its best to leave the reader (young or not so young) to decide what conclusions to draw from a post.

The idea of questioning the background or intention of the participant, in ways to hinder all points of views is what scares me more.

Isn`t that the democratic way. OR has the millitary coup had an impact on the chowkwall(a/i)s` psyche, too !

Jay writes: ``There is no mention that he was born in india and moved to pakistan when he was four.``

JR writes: ``Jay has pointed out some very interesting facts, the most recent being that a person of Indian birth is number 1 in Pakistan today. ``

Anyone who was born before 1947(on the east or west side of the current boundary) was born in ``British India.`` Pakistan and Bharat (also referred to as India) came into existence after August 14th and 15th of 1947, respectively.

JR: Yes a person of ``British Indian`` birth is No. 1 in Pakistan today, as would be any leader whose age is more than 52 years. There is nothing perturbing about that...you`re wasting energy in trying to alarm yourself with facts that are straightforward.

Jay: Everyone in the country knows that he is of Urdu-speaking/ `mohajir` background. If the detail of his migration wasn`t mentioned in Dawn...I understand your concern and I will not defend the source unnecessarily. But when he was appointed, Dawn posted that fact in his bio-data. The entire nation is aware of his background and this fact is nothing new or alarming to the people. Gen. Aslam Beg (the army chef from `89-`92) was also Urdu-speaking.

The fact that Gen. Musharraf was four when he migrated is because he was 4 at the time of partition. Anyone born before `47 was a citizen of `British India`...and after that, either Bharat (India) or Pakistan...and Gen. Musharraf has been a Pakistani citizen for as long as Pakistan has existed. This is the case with every citizen of Pakistan over 52 years of age. They were all citizens of ``British India`` before `47.

Soorya and JR:

I have nothing against people expressing their opinions on issues. I have had many constructive discussions with Jay on issues on which both of us seem to have experience. All I am saying is that one should at least have a basic understanding of the issue before making authoritative statements. Otherwise, these statements just cause unnecessary conflict, which is the last thing the Indians and Pakistanis need.

JR had made comments about generals living lavishly. I have nothing against any comments like that, as long as they are based on fact, or if the person making the comments has some experience and knowledge backing his/her statements. I have no interest in defending generals. There are a lot of things generals do that I do not like. But nothing JR has printed seems to indicate that he has any info on the Pakistan Army.

People should not become critics on the issues on which they have no knowledge. Many people print poetry on Chowk. I have no knowledge of the finer or even abstract points of poetry, so it would be incorrect for me to become a critic. I can, ``draw a conclusion (as mentioned by Soorya),`` and state whether I like the peotry or not, but if I start giving critical advice, I would probably harm the poet more than help. Of course, I can give advice anyways, and state that it is my right. But to me that would just create confusion.

The following appeared in the Christian Science Monitor:

``For [Musharraf] to have his finger on the nuclear button worries me to no end,`` says Sumit Ganguly, an Indian-American visiting fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.

Mr. Ganguly goes on to say that Musharraf was ``brought up`` by Gen. Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, who took power through a military coup in 1977. He was a militant and considered by some to be a Muslim fundamentalist.``

How does this gentleman named Ganguly know that Musharraf was ``brought up`` by Gen Zia. And who the hell has told him that Musharraff is a militant or fundamentalist. After spending so much time in the Pakistan military, I do not even know whether Musharraff is a militant or fundamentalist, or neither. I do know he was not, ``brought up`` by General Zia, because during Zia`s regime, Musharraf was one of the hundreds of majors or colonels in the army. Generals do not have time to, ``bring up`` majors or colonels.

I fail to see why Indians who are fellows at Stanford are making statement like this. Similarly, I fail to see why Indians who have no knowledge about the motivations of Pakistanis, and absolutely no knowledge about the Pakistan army (apart from what they read in the press, by people like Mr. Ganguly) continue to present conspiracy theories about Pakistan. These will only cause more problems between Pakistanis and Indians.

Again, there is nothing I can do about misinformation. However, I would encourage people to give theories on things they understand.

``Come writers and critics, who prophecize with your pens;

Don`t criticize what you don`t understand``

(from a Billy Joel album)

Jay:

You say that Pakistan and Pakistani newspapers do not mention that the General was born in colonial India. You are wrong. Read todays jang. Article is attached below for your convenience. Does this imply that everything else you said that depended on this point is garbage too ? I say let the readers decide.

Musharraf flies high in US media

By our correspondent

WASHINGTON: The dramatic political change in Pakistan has had the US

media suddenly focussed on the new man in power `General Pervaiz

Musharraf`.

Who is Musharraf? What kind of a general is he? What are his leanings?

Is he secular or fundamentalist? From CNN to Washington Post to New

York Times, the US media seemed engrossed by these questions all day

long on Wednesday.

For the Washington Post, Musharraf is considered a secular figure with

pro-Western leanings with his son and brother living in the United

States. Although the US officials acknowledge they have few inklings as

to his intentions for governing.

The Los Angeles Times described him as a `tough, no-nonsense soldier`.

The New York Times said that the general was ``an unlikely coup-maker

because he appeared to be an apolitical officer who took over the army

at a time when military coups seemed to be a thing of the past.``

In a detailed analysis, the Times published Musharraf`s comparison with

Karamat `who had political ideas`. Musharraf, on the other hand, was

described as `a soldier`s soldier`. An artillery officer with commando

experience, Musharraf, with his scholar`s rimless glasses, took over after

the resignation of a predecessor who had suggested resurrecting a

broader role for the military in national policy-making.

Stephen Cohen, an expert on the Indian and Pakistan military at the

Brookings Institution in Washington, was quoted as saying that

Musharraf seemed an unlikely `political` general in the moUld of other

Pakistani officers who have seized power in the past.

``I suspect he is going to want to get out of power as quickly as he

can,`` Cohen said in the interview. ``This is not his kind of thing. His

colleagues regard him as a good professional soldier. He is not regarded

as a great strategic thinker, like most special forces people. He has a

narrow focus on things.``

His bio data, as published in the Times says: Musharraf, who was

decorated for service in the 1965 war with India, is a graduate of the

Pakistani Command and Staff College at Quetta and also studied at

military institutions in Britain. He has commanded an infantry brigade

and artillery regiments as well as serving in various commando

battalions.

He was born in New Delhi, India, in August 1943, then migrated to

Pakistan with his family and lived as a child in Karachi. He joined

Pakistan Army in 1964 and served in an artillery regiment after training

in the well-known Military Academy of Kakul in NWFP.

In 1965, he fought Indian troops in the Khem Karan sector in Punjab

during the 16-day war with India, taking part in intense battles for

which he received a medal for gallantry.

In 1971, when Pakistan again went to war with India, Musharraf was a

member of the elite military Special Services Group of commandos. He

has also commanded an infantry division and a strike corps and has

received a number of military decorations.

He has been on the faculty of the Command and Staff College in Quetta

and of the war wing of the National Defence College. As a lieutenant

general, his last key posting came in 1995 when he became a

commander in Mangla, Punjab, an important military area close to Indian

border.

He was appointed army chief in October 1998 after the resignation of

former military chief Gen Jehangir Karamat, who stepped down after

making remarks seen critical of Nawaz Sharif. Little is known about his

personal life. He is known to have a son and daughter, both of whom

are married.

Experts say that Musharraf may have seized the moment of his dismissal

to respond as much to civilian frustration with an ineffective

government as to festering army resentment at Sharif`s withdrawal in

July of support for a Himalayan war with India. ``Musharraf was my

director general of military operations,`` the paper quotes Benazir taking

the credit.

``He wasn`t a cleric. He was a professional soldier and I thought that he

was very courageous and brave. He`d been a commando, and a person

who is a commando can take tremendous risks and think afterwards.``

Definitely an unflattering remark from Benazir. May be he will think about

Benazir before time now.