Article: Musharraf: Another Saddam Hussein?

In a strange new phenomenon of modern history, the military regime in Pakistan has once more pleaded guilty to the American crime of killing Pakistani civilians with impunity. General Musharraf is simply tightening the noose around his neck, whether he is doing so as a part of his desperate attempts of show his loyalty to Washington or a futile attempt to assert the lost sovereignty. The U.S. forces attacked the border town of Zamzola in South Waziristan on January 16, 2007, killing at least 8 civilians. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. He reported eight "militants" were killed and 10 wounded. The Associated Press, however, reports that according to local villagers, an American plan fired five missiles and went away. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, Pakistan military helicopters arrived and started firing on the destroyed homes. [1] Criminals to look for alibi to save their skin. We see Pakistani government doing the opposite in an attempt to create evidence to implicate itself for the crimes committed by U.S. and NATO forces. Two unexploded missiles were shown to journalists. One was labeled "AM York 0873." Their provenance was unclear. Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the region, said: "One thing is clear, helicopters are not able to carry such bombs." (See picture below) Nevertheless, Pakistan insists on shouldering the responsibility. Responding to villagers' accusations, Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan's military spokesman, said on Friday: "This is wrong. We have already denied it. This is usual that such things are said on such occasions but these are wrong." [2] Interestingly, this is not the first time the military regime is taking the responsibility of civilians on itself. The facts about the air strike on October 30, 2006 that killed 83 teachers and students of Madrasa Zia ul Uloom are not in doubt any more. General Musharraf claimed responsibility and gave the details in front of TV cameras. General Musharraf said: 1) he authorized the air assault, 2) the site was a militant camp, and 3) it was, therefore, a legitimate target. According to Christina Lamb, a key aide to General Musharraf later admitted that the bombing was carried out by the United States. According to Sunday Times November 26 report, Pakistan officials admitted: "We thought it would be less damaging if we said we did it rather than the US. But there was a lot of collateral damage and we've requested the Americans not to do it again." [3] The pictures shown on TV of the 'militant camp' have also confirmed that it were boys engaged in morning PT (physical training) like in every other boy's school in the country. Even if this particular PT had a more sinister purpose or effect, it was still not a crime. Even if a crime was committed (for which no evidence has been shown on TV or provided by official spokesmen), was an air raid the right response or reaction? If it was not, the person who authorized the raid, whether committed by the US or Pakistan military, committed the crime of 'murder' of 83 persons. The latest assault shows that General Musharraf is still not in control of Pakistan's territory. He is still ready to shoulder responsibility for the American crimes against humanity. The United States has undoubtedly crossed the limits of its madness in its war on the Muslim struggle for self-determination and true independence from the colonial grip. General Musharraf on the other hand is busy tightening noose around his neck despite witnessing the tragic end of other puppets, who served Washington way more than him. Furthermore, the issue here is not Washington's right to strike back at its perceived enemies and puppet regimes' right to assist its wars of aggression, but how many innocents are wiped out in the process. The latest U.S. assault on Somalia is part of America's growing madness in which many puppets are blindly supporting it. This however should not be the case. The test of the US operation is not whether it killed the right people, or an attack generating mass casualties has advanced or squandered the opportunity to create a so-considered 'stable government' in Kabul or Mogadishu. Before the 21st century waves of Anglo-U.S. aggression, the test used to be whether a renegade state and its allies had the right to attack another nation without recourse to International law. General Musharraf and other have now accepted the unilateralist doctrine of George Bush along with its corollary: the uninhibited right to bomb any town, village, city or infrastructure that it pleases. It balks at killing masses of innocents. Not one innocent, not ten or even twenty, but masses. How far down can the puppets go with the Untied States? Regurgitating propaganda themes or Al-Qaeda, insurgency, and Jihadis, can never fool those who know the ground realities. Neither can such repetition justify the kind of attacks the U.S. forces are carrying out with the help of local puppets from Somalia to Pakistan. These are all parts of the broader U.S. war of aggression that it is launching on country after country under different ruses but with the same objective. These propaganda themes and half truths cannot even deceive honest Western analysts, who are aware of the ground realities, let alone those poor souls who are the direct victims of the American aggression. With this approach the US and its allies can kill thousands of people, install their puppet regimes but they can never ever win hearts and minds of the masses in these countries. Since they cannot kill every single individual in these countries, it is certain that in the long run, the losers are going to be the aggressors and their puppets, not the masses that want an end to the de facto colonization. While riding the crest of American support, Saddam Hussain could not even imagine a noose around his neck at the hands of some more American puppets. So is the case with General Musharraf and others who are not only engaged in crimes against their own people but also shouldering responsibility for the American slaughter of their fellow countrymen. Abid Ullah Jan's latest book (co-authored with Rory Winter) The Ultimate Tragedy was released in December 2006. Notes [1] "Tribe: U.S., not Pakistan, hit village," Associated Press Report, U.S.A. Today, Posted 1/19/2007 9:37 AM ET, URL: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-01-19-pakistan_x.htm?csp=34&POE=click-refer [2] Al-Jazeera Report, "Pakistan Denies U.S. aided strikes," January 20, 2007. URL: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A90B5328-E143-47AD-B92D-7852D255B8CB.htm [3] "US carried out Madrasah bombing," Sunday Times, November 26, 2006. URL: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2471863,00.html

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