A trick knee has derailed my cousin's imminent year-long Iraqi adventure. As readers of this post may recall, he was supposedly headed to Iraq for a year even though his 6-year active duty status in the National Guard ended in April. But while finishing up his 2-week training tuneup in Wisconsin, he was declared physically unfit for duty due to an apparently ligament-free knee that has tormented him since he was younger and has never had surgery. So after receiving a letter from the family doctor back home about it, the Guard x-ray'd it, confirmed the diagnosis, and flew him back home.
Today, the Financial Times is reporting that the Pakistani Supreme Court has reinstated one of their own, who had been barred by Gen. (sorry, I mean "President") Musharraf because of overstepping his judiciary boundaries. Here's an excerpt from the article that details exactly how the judge allegedly crossed the line, "By accepting, in particular, that there should be an investigation into
alleged 'disappearances' of terrorism suspects and by reversing the
privatisation of a large steel mill, Mr Chaudhry appeared to have
overstepped the mark." The short piece also mentions a few of the General's own constitutional transgressions:
"Rules in the constitution that Gen Musharraf has either ignored or
circumvented since his 1999 coup include those barring a serving army
chief from holding public office and from standing for election within
two years of giving up the post."
Understand that this is a military dictatorship, that it is strongly supported by the U.S., that it faces popular opposition from Islamic fundamentalist groups, and that Osama bin Laden and his closest "cabinet members" are presumed to be in hiding along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which is best described as "tribal frontier not governed by any national government." I won't say "lawless," as I'm sure they most likely do have their own system of recognized and abided-by, if not formally written, laws in place. If he is democratically forced out of office, as can now happen, what does this mean for al-Queda? Is it better for them to have an Islamic fundamentalist government in power that sympathizes with them, but which might also encourage a strong and open U.S. occupation of the area that could go to work rooting them out (and, by extension, more U.S. citizens like my cousin to be deployed there), or is it better to have an American-backed unpopular military dictator that is, in practice, leaving them alone in the places it matters most while winning for them the hearts and support of the population that opposes Musharraf?
Posted by: |