17, November 2007 Pakistan
The political crisis in Pakistan continues to worsen. A reign of terror has been unleashed by Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Thousands of brave citizens have taken to the streets to voice their vigorous opposition to the imposition of martial law. All the pillars of democracy, the Constitution, free speech, the right of assembly, have been summarily suspended. All the top judges have been dismissed and thousands of human rights activists and lawyers have been arrested and jailed.
The U.S. strategy of lending support to former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, (ousted on corruption charges) has failed. An attempt to window dress the military regime with a fig leaf of democracy and mollify the growing opposition has all but failed.
Pakistan has received over 10 billion dollars of US aid since 1999 ostensibly to ‘fight terror’, but channeled much of the funds to stifle dissent and maintain a repressive military regime. This latest debacle makes a complete mockery of our government’s claim to promote democracy. It is time for our citizens to establish solidarity with the voiceless Pakistanis yearning to be free from the iron boots of their repressive military dictator and demand an immediate halt to US military aid. Failure to do so will fuel seething resentment against the U.S. and stoke the fires of Islamic fundamentalism.
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