Pakistani activists face death over treason charges
Bush's "great ally in the war on terror" has taken the kind of action that Ann Coulter and other right wing loons are always calling for Bush to take against his critics in the United States. Musharraf has charged three Pakistani politicians and a union leader with treason, a charge which carries the maximum penalty of death.
The men were the first to be reported charged with treason, which carries a maximum sentence of death, since President Musharraf declared a state of emergency and suspended Pakistan’s constitution at the weekend. Eight lawyers were also being sought in Karachi for allegedly distributing anti-Musharraf leaflets.
The four in custody – three from small left-wing political parties and a union leader – were arrested Monday after making speeches against General Musharraf at the Karachi Press Club during a meeting of civil society groups about how best to protest the emergency.
Charging people with treason for speaking out against you and seeking to arrest lawyers for distributing leaflets which challenge either you or your policies, is the antithesis of democracy.
Were Musharraf deliberately seeking to make Bush look foolish by continuing to support him, he couldn't do a better job than the one he is doing now. It is now treason to openly campaign against Musharraf's imposition of martial law.
Now I know some of Bush's more insane supporters are always calling for editors of the New York Times and other publications to be charged with treason for revealing some of his more illegal activities, but there has never been any indication that Bush supports such nonsense. Here, on the other hand, Bush will do nothing to undermine Musharraf, and will sit silently by while Musharraf prosecutes people with treason for daring to speak out against him.
This is now bordering on insane, and yet Bush has offered only the slightest rebuke to the military dictator who continues to enjoy the support of the White House despite the fact that he has just carried out his second military coup in Pakistan.
I've said before that this makes a mockery of Bush's stated intentions to promote democracy, but even I never envisaged that I would witness this. A military dictator charging those who oppose him with treason whilst enjoying a large degree of support from the White House.
I know that Bush is keen to work out a power sharing deal with Bhutto in order to keep Musharraf in power and carrying out blatantly Western led policies, but there comes a point when even this White House must concede that Musharraf is damaged goods.
Bush's policy towards Pakistan now seems limited to keeping Musharraf in power no matter what. That's not a policy. Indeed, with Musharraf increasingly behaving like Idi Amin or Robert Mugabe, that is beginning to resemble a suicide pact.
I have had great sympathy for the difficulty of Musharraf's position since Bush forced him to carry out policies which were opposed by huge swathes of his populace, but there is simply no excuse for this.
Nor does there appear to be any way that Bush and the White House can, with any dignity, continue to support this madness.
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