Doesn’t it feel so moral for America to be propping up yet another dictator?
The government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, making no concessions a day after seizing emergency powers, rounded up leading opposition figures and said Sunday that parliamentary elections could be delayed for as long as a year.
Security forces were reported to have detained about 500 opposition party figures, lawyers and human rights advocates on Sunday, and about a dozen privately owned television news stations remained off the air. International broadcasters, including the BBC and CNN, were
also cut off.
The crackdown, announced late Saturday night after General Musharraf suspended the Constitution, was clearly aimed at preventing public demonstrations that political parties and lawyers were organizing for Monday.
“They are showing zero tolerance for protest,” said Athar Minallah, a lawyer and a former minister in the Musharraf government.
Same as it ever was, Oliver, same as it ever was.
From a Time Magazine interview with Musharraf, dated November 24, 1999:
TIME: The U.S. is the only major power that has not come out strongly against the military takeover. Will Pakistan respond positively to American concerns in the region?
Musharraf: I am grateful to President Clinton and the United States for the very realistic stand they have taken, for their understanding of the situation in Pakistan.
Yes, and President Clinton turned a blind eye to Pakistan deferring its elections again and again, right? No, that happened under Bush.