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Politics : THE WHITE HOUSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pompsander who wrote (10402)	11/5/2007 2:42:24 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 25737

You hit the nail exactly on the head: "Right after 9/11 Mushareff recognized that as a former supporter of the Taliban he and his cronies needed to "appear" to abandon them and ally with America or not only national opinion in the U.S. but World opinion would justify any U.S. action taken against him and his government. He did this masterfully, talking one thing in public while in private thwarting everything we needed to do...." Everytime the heat for democratic reform began to build again, he waived the bloody shirt of "islamic militants" and we backed away and gave him everything he wanted...more money, more authority. He denied us at every turn in our efforts to chase down OBL, he signed a "peace treaty" with the Taliban, he walked away from the rule of law in his own country...." "The lawyers and opponents are being rounded up (not Islamic militants, I might add) and all in the name of stopping those pesky Islamic militants..." >>> Don't forget: the Entire Supreme Court is locked away now, and so he has spiked the Judiciary (already - through ballot box rigging and other unsavory 'election' tactics - taken over control of the Legislative branch. And, of course, he himself took the office of the Presidency in a coup... and remains the Supreme Military Commander....)

To: pompsander who wrote (10402)	11/6/2007 8:14:25 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25737

Chaudhry Urges Pakistanis to Uphold Constitution (Update4) By Khaleeq Ahmed and Khalid Qayum bloomberg.com Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry urged government officers to reject the nation's emergency order, hours after President Pervez Musharraf said he would restore democracy. ``It is the duty of every citizen and especially lawyers, to struggle for the supremacy of law, independence of the judiciary and real democracy,'' lawyer Shaukat Rauf cited Chaudhry as saying in a telephone address to the bar in Islamabad today. Lawyers decided today to hold daily demonstrations to protest against emergency rule. As many as 1,000 lawyers have been arrested since Musharraf suspended the constitution on Nov. 3 for the second time since he took power in a 1999 military coup, saying ``judicial interference'' had led to an increase in Islamic extremism and terrorism. He fired Chaudhry, barred the Supreme Court from making any ruling against his administration and curbed freedom of the media. ``All allegations against the judiciary are baseless and unfounded,'' Chaudhry said. ``The people of Pakistan have witnessed how the Supreme Court provided justice to all without discrimination.'' Dozens of lawyers were arrested today, Rauf said. Musharraf pledged to return Pakistan to democracy and step down as army chief as the U.S. called for an end to emergency rule and elections to be held on schedule. Civilian Government ``I am determined to remove my uniform'' and complete Pakistan's transition to civilian government, Musharraf said yesterday in a televised briefing for overseas diplomats on the emergency decree. ``There will be harmony. Confidence will come back into government and the law enforcement agencies.'' Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto left Karachi for Islamabad today, where she is scheduled to address a rally in Rawalpindi on Nov. 9, ignoring a ban on public gatherings issued by Musharraf. ``There is no meeting scheduled with Musharraf on the cards,'' her spokesman Farhatullah Babar, said in a phone interview from Islamabad today. ``These are all rumors.'' Bhutto, 54, returned to Pakistan after eight years in self- imposed exile to lead her party in national elections, after Musharraf agreed to withdraw corruption cases against her. The president appointed Abdul Hameed Dogar, a Supreme Court judge, to replace Chaudhry on Nov. 4, seven months after he first tried to remove the top judge. Chaudhry had been reinstated by his peers in July. Four Judges The government appointed four more judges to the Supreme Court today, bringing the total to nine under emergency rule, state-run Pakistan Television reported today. There were 18 Supreme Court judges before the constitution was suspended. The U.S. doesn't have enough information to predict the outcome of events in Pakistan or whether Musharraf, 64, can hold on to power, according to a Bush administration official. The Bush administration is being forced to await developments over the next few days to see whether a prime ally in the fight against terrorism, and a nuclear-armed nation, returns to stability, said the official, who briefed reporters yesterday on condition of anonymity. President George W. Bush called on Musharraf yesterday to reverse the emergency decree that suspended Pakistan's constitution. Outlook Revised Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on Pakistan's debt ratings today to ``negative'' from ``stable,'' citing ``heightened and prolonged political uncertainty.'' Moody's Investors Service did the same late yesterday. Musharraf will soon lift the emergency rule and elections will be held after a year, Indian television channel CNN-IBN said, citing a Pakistan government lawyer. ``I am virtually arrested,'' Chaudhry said yesterday in a statement read over the phone by his lawyer Gauhar Ali. ``The doors of my house are locked. An army major came this morning and locked the doors and took away the keys.'' Lawyers were arrested yesterday in the commercial capital of Karachi, the garrison town of Rawalpindi and the eastern city of Lahore as they demonstrated outside their respective High Court buildings, lawyers said. Police beat lawyers with batons and used tear gas to disperse them. Police and paramilitary troops surrounded the High Court buildings and the Supreme Court building in Islamabad, sealing them off. National Ballot The national ballot is due by Jan. 15 and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said it will be held according to schedule. The declaration of emergency rule came as the Supreme Court was nearing a decision on the legality of Musharraf's Oct. 6 re- election by parliament and provincial assemblies as president. Opposition parties had asked the court to disqualify him on the grounds that the constitution bars him running for another five- year term while remaining army chief. The Supreme Court banned the Election Commission from declaring a winner until its ruling. Journalists will develop a strategy today to deal with media curbs, after private news broadcasters remained off air for a fourth day, Mushtaq Minhas, the secretary general of Rawalpindi Press Club said today in a phone interview. Musharraf issued a law that bans the publication of any material ``that defames, brings into ridicule or disrepute the head of state or members of the armed forces or executive, legislative organs.'' Offenders can be jailed for three years. To contact the reporters on this story: Khaleeq Ahmed in Islamabad; Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net . Last Updated: November 6, 2007 07:06 EST