# Musharraf declares state of emergency in Pakistan, cancels elections **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 5, 2007, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230 "2007-11-05T00:48:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/41 "2007-11-11T19:26:09Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Yes, but the POTUS remains a **civilian.** Musharraf is a general and would not be president if he were not. And that is not because, like Eisenhower, his military record made him electable. [/QUOTE] Yes, I understand that. I know that Pervy did not come to the presidency honestly, and that he has thrown at least 700 of his opponents in prison in the last few weeks. To me, Pervy’s uniform is only a symbol. He could wear a tutu, and still be head of military (though a poofy one.) The US is a rarity in having one person serving as head of state, head of military, and head of party. Our whole relationship with Pakistan is swimming in silliness. They’re a “strong ally in the fight against terrorism,” but Osama bin Laden lives there unmolested, (or a few hundred yards away in Afghanistan, another “ally.”) Pervy’s an iron-fisted dictator with nuclear weapons, but our president calls him up pal-to-pal, to give some friendly advice. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/42 "2007-11-14T18:04:45Z")
Update: They just arrested [cricket-star-turned-politician Imran Khan.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/14/AR2007111400396.html?hpid=topnews) ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/43 "2007-11-14T18:37:36Z")
As usual, IOZ [has a good angle on the mess.](http://whoisioz.blogspot.com/2007/11/children-of-devolution.html#links) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/44 "2007-11-17T22:44:32Z")
[Interesting analysis of the U.S.’ role here:](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071203/usher) > [@](#): > > For the United States [Bhutto’s] comments [that she will not serve in any government under Musharraf] are seismic. For the past six months Washington has been brokering a shotgun marriage between the General and the woman who was once his most vocal adversary. > > Two realities squeezed the trigger. One was mounting civic protests against military rule in Pakistan, brought on by Musharraf’s botched attempt to dismiss the independent Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The second has been a native “Pakistan” Taliban insurgency, arching from the Afghanistan borderlands to settled districts in the North West Frontier Province. Since July–when army commandos ousted pro-Taliban clerics from Islamabad’s Red Mosque–nearly 2,000 people have been killed, including 600 soldiers. There have been twenty-eight suicide attacks. > > From a politician synonymous in the United States with graft and opportunism, Bhutto became a redeeming angel. But sainthood came with a price. In return for the withdrawal of corruption cases against her–and perhaps a third shot at the premiership–Bhutto would use the popular might of her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to steer Musharraf to the shore of another five-year presidency. > > The tryst was never about dumping Pakistan’s military ruler, says analyst Ayesha Siddiqa. It was about ballasting him with “civilian” legitimacy: “Benazir provides the political cover while Musharraf and the army focus on the ‘war on terror,’ which is the only thing the Americans are really concerned about.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/45 "2007-11-26T00:37:09Z")
Update: [Former PM Nawaz Sharif has returned to Pakistan.](http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/25/asia/25pakistan.4.php) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/46 "2007-12-17T16:55:08Z")
Update: [Musharraf has announced an end to the state of emergency.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121500302.html) However, the restrictions on the media remain in place, and the judges purged from the Supreme Court have not been reinstated and remain under house arrest. And during the emergency, Musharraf added a clause to the constitution stating that his actions since November 3 “shall not be called in question by or before any court.” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/47 "2007-12-27T16:52:47Z")
Breaking news: [Benazir Bhutto assassinated](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004094351_webbhuttokilled27.html). Well, that’s it. They’re fucked. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/48 "2007-12-27T16:58:32Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Breaking news: [Benazir Bhutto assassinated](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004094351_webbhuttokilled27.html). Well, that’s it. They’re fucked. [/QUOTE] Sad and horrifying news. What next? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/49 "2007-12-27T17:26:29Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] He’s a military dictator, how is this surprising? Moral issues aside Musharraf is a US ally and better him than some unknown devil. Sure a democratic Pakistan would be nice, but the status quo is better than some Taliban-style regime. Our biggest worry is whether or not he can keep control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. [/QUOTE] This is classic. “Unknown devil”? “Taliban-style regime”? Until this morning, the two people with the best chance of replacing Musharraf as head of Pakistan were Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, both of them former democratically elected prime ministers of Pakistan. Neither is an “unknown devil” nor likely to head a “Taliban-style regime.” This is exactly the level of ignorance that plagues our foreign policy makers. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/50 "2007-12-27T18:09:24Z")
[QUOTE=vison] What next? [/QUOTE] Le deluge. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230/51 "2007-12-27T20:26:45Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] This is classic. “Unknown devil”? “Taliban-style regime”? Until this morning, the two people with the best chance of replacing Musharraf as head of Pakistan were Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, both of them former democratically elected prime ministers of Pakistan. Neither is an “unknown devil” nor likely to head a “Taliban-style regime.” This is exactly the level of ignorance that plagues our foreign policy makers. [/QUOTE] I think that’s pretty much spot on. The polls I’ve seen show that only about 15% of the populace supports the kind of radical Islam being sold by the Taliban and similar groups. It is possible, though not likely, that some crazy, radical group could take over the country in some sort of coup, but I think it extremely unlikely that democracy would lead to that. Radical Islam seems to flourish best under autocratic rule. Whether Musharraf is an autocrat might be debatable, but he certainly doesn’t represent democracy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musharraf-declares-state-of-emergency-in-pakistan-cancels-elections/425230.md?page=2)