President Bush and Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf during better days, Sept. 22, 2006 to be exact. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
by Mark Silva
President Bush has played host to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at the White House, and Bush has visited Musharraf at the presidential palace in Islamabad. In Pakistan, Bush told Musharraf last year: “We do have a good friendship.’’
Yet, two days into a constitutional crisis in Pakistan – a declaration of emergency rule in which the White House has voiced “deep’’ disappointment – Bush still had not called Musharraf at this writing to express his own concern. Instead, the White House says, the president has relied on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to communicate with the Pakistani leader, as she did last week – voicing the Bush administration’s objections to suspension of constitutional law by an ally in which the U.S. has invested $11 billion in the war against terrorism.
Is it fair to perceive the president as unwilling to become personally invested in a situation that poses a high risk of failure?
“I reject that,’’ White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said. “The president is personally engaged.’’
His secretary of state, who followed him to Washington from his first campaign for president, is one of his closest advisers, Perino said.
The president himself plans to address the situation shortly, meeting reporters in the Oval Office following a private session with Turkish Prime Minister Rcep Erdogan, with whom Bush is discussing another potential tinderbox – Turkey’s threats of invading northern Iraq to suppress rebels that. More than 100 Kurdish protesters assembled outside the gates of the White House today toting placards reading, “Stop Turkish aggression.’’
“The president has called on Gen. Musharraf to take off the uniform,’’ Perino said of the Pakistani president and general who is also chief of Army staff.
“The government of the United States is deeply concerned about the declaration of emergency,’’ Perino said, repeating a statement from earlier today at the daily White House briefing. “President Musharraf had taken Pakistan pretty far along the path of democracy, and this is definitely a setback.’’
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Comments
Pakistan's dictator Perves "Hilton" Musharraf, faced with slipping support, has gone bat#!%* crazy. So far he's placed everybody in the country under arrest, ordered all the TV stations to be "fair and balanced" (wink wink), and married one of his nuclear warheads.....have no fear people, Condofalosser Rice will save the day
Polling in the US shows that a maximum of 24% of the people can be fooled all of the time. So Musharraf's support won't be any higher than that, even among his supporters.
Posted by: John E | November 5, 2007 1:37 PM
I hope Der Busher will not be using this as a model. He is crazy enough to.
Posted by: proudliberal | November 5, 2007 2:03 PM
Bush is quietly studying Musharraf's technique -- come Sept of '08 Dubya will attempt the same phony crisis and suspension of the Constitution......president for life, anyone ??
Posted by: pitsniff | November 5, 2007 2:05 PM
Emergency for Democracy. Yeah right. 35 local channels closed down, 1500 lawyers arrested etc. People living in Pakistan are so unaware of what's going on, it's not even funny anymore.
Professors of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) have been arrested too. LUMS also had a petition signing today at 9pm (PST) for students, against dictatorship.
It's nie to see that the youth is waking up, and that Imran Khan has escaped house arrest and is rounding up students for protest. I have university tomorrow, and my management is American. It will be interesting to see what they have to say.
Posted by: Rizwan Asif | November 5, 2007 2:06 PM
Since Bush has spoken so much about the goal of spreading democracy in the Middle East, you'd think he'd be a bit more into this one. Guess "The Decider" decided not to. Just points out how ridiculously unrealistic the Bush Administration goals of democratic nation building in the Middle East are. Of course, you'd think the fact that the Administration's top Middle Eastallies are Pakistan, a military dictatorship, and Saudi Arabia, a monarchy in which women drape themselves and walk five feet behind men, would be a red flag on those goals...
Posted by: kb | November 5, 2007 2:24 PM
I am President Chimpy Clown
My aura smiles
And never frowns
Soon I will be a three term president...
Bill of rights will soon go away
I will be Fuhrer one day
I will command all of you
Your kids will meditate in school
Your kids will meditate in school!
Bush Uber Alles
Bush Uber Alles
Uber Alles Dick Cheny
Uber Alles Dick Cheney
Zen fascists will control you
100% natural
You will jog for the master race
And always wear the happy face
Close your eyes, can't happen here
Big Bro' on white horse is near
The hippies won't come back you say
Mellow out or you will pay
Mellow out or you will pay!
Now it is 1984
Knock-knock at your front door
It's the suede/denim secret police
They have come for your uncool niece
Come quietly to the camp
You'd look nice as a drawstring lamp
Don't you worry, it's only a shower
For your clothes here's a pretty flower.
DIE on organic poison gas
Serpent's egg's already hatched
You will croak, you little clown
When you mess with President Bush
When you mess with President Cheney
Posted by: Aung San Suu Kyi | November 5, 2007 3:01 PM
This is an outrageous hit piece by the leftwing drive-by media! The President is most certainly engaged in this situation. He will address the matter personally right after he rides his bike, runs a few laps, lifts some free weights, watches sports highlights, tosses his dog some rawhide bones, and takes a much needed nap underneath his desk.
Posted by: john | November 5, 2007 3:02 PM
This is an outrageous hit piece by the leftwing drive-by media! The President is most certainly engaged in this situation. He will address the matter personally right after he rides his bike, runs a few laps, lifts some free weights, watches sports highlights, tosses his dog some rawhide bones, and takes a much needed nap underneath his desk.
Posted by: john | November 5, 2007 3:02 PM
John,
Unfortunatly that's probably true.
That "drive-by media" slogan Rush Rommel likes to throw out to his followers (Crazy Jerry from Springfield) cracks me up because if the "drive-by media" ever slowed down and took a good look at the crap that Rush the Draftdodger is saying everyday on his Reichwing AM hate radio station that place would be shut down in a nano second.
Posted by: John E | November 5, 2007 5:12 PM
I think Bush is just jealous.
http://www.towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/911
Posted by: DD | November 5, 2007 5:22 PM
(by elmore james)
I just talked to Musharraf on the telephone,
He said, stop what youre doing and baby come on over.
I cant hold out, I cant hold out too long.
I get a real bad feeling talking to him on the phone.
He said, Bushy dont you worry, youre my hearts desire.
You know that I love you, I cant stand to see you cry.
I cant hold out, I cant hold out too long.
I get a real bad feeling talking to you on the phone.
He said, baby you can run, you can walk or fly.
You know that I need you, youre my hearts desire.
I cant hold out, I cant hold out too long.
I get a real dead feeling talking to you on the phone, oh yeah.
Bush talked to Musharraf, he talked to Musharraf.
I get a real bad feeling talking to Bushy on the phone.
Posted by: C.Morris | November 5, 2007 7:27 PM
This reminds me of another handshake a few years back;
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/
Posted by: C.Morris | November 5, 2007 8:33 PM
Heckava job!, Pervy
Posted by: dt | November 5, 2007 10:46 PM
This was Brought to my attention.
Google for "president for life" and read the excerpts.
This was published on familysecuritymatters.org, a top republican think tank, These are not not your typical nut cases, Dick Cheyney was on its board of directors, no one can tell if he still is.
want something more scary straight from the whitehouse.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html
This was drafted about the time it was predicted hillary would be the next president, check out the date.
Do you think for one moment that President Bush, Cheney and Carl Rove wrote this with Hillary in mind.
It means that if enabled the president will make any and all descisions and congress and the house will quietly sit in their corners.
It can be enabled in the event of a percieved threat, Iraq was a percieved threat.
Anyone keeping up with Pakistan will see that it is a play right out of the HSPD.
I dont know why more people are not talking about this. The media has been toally silent
Posted by: rob boblaw | November 19, 2007 11:01 PM