Emergency Not Entirely a Consipiracy

All the international media are telling the world there is some kind of conspiracy as to what Musharraf is telling the people of Pakistan and the actions he is taking. Their implication is that Musharraf, in his address to the nation, declared the state of emergency solely to control the situation regarding extremists. Then they say this is not true.

In the address, Musharraf tries his best to explain how the collapse of the judiciary is related to the spread of extremism, such as releasing confirmed terrorists from prison, and he implies that these released felons may be the ones behind the attacks in Karachi and Rawalpindi. The judiciary, the legislative and the executive pillars of the government need to become one, Musharraf explains. The judiciary can not be pulling the strings in other political bodies.

The situation is terrible to say the least, and I am no fan of Musharraf at the moment either. Whatever justifications he may give, there are definitely signs of a struggle to maintain his grip on power that Musharraf is unable to let go. But BBC News, ABC News, USA Today and all these major news sources are portraying a more negative image of Musharraf's reasons to declare a state on emergency.

On the cover page of last week's Newsweek issue, well in advance of the emergency, it says:

The Most Dangerous Nation In the World Isn't Iraq.
It's Pakistan.

The US keeps threatening to 'review' its aid to Pakistan - as if it will terminate it. If it does there may be some relief to the Pakistani public who have never seen any sign of the US $10 billion Pakistan has reportedly received up till now. But such a move would mean Bush would stop his support for Musharraf in his self-proclaimed War on Terror and that would have dire consequences for the army general. Such a move by the US could pronounce consequences for the general public as well, because Musharraf intends to remain dictator for what might be at least a year from now because that is how long the elections are to be withheld.

What's more, when I see clippings of protests by students, lawyers and others, I can not tell from the tone of their voices what they mean to say when they shout, "Go, Musharraf go!"

Do they mean, "Go on, Musharraf, go on!" or "Go away, Musharraf go away!"?

Don't get killed now Musharraf - that's what I say - you have dug your grave very deep this time, and this country can't afford to go into utter anarchy just now.