Under threat of impeachment by the democratically elected parliament, Pakistan's preisdent Musharraf finally decided to resign. This is the latest example of the failure of Bush and Mccain's foreign policy.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation on Monday in the face of looming impeachment charges, ending a turbulent nine years in power. "After viewing the situation and consulting legal advisers and political allies, with their advice I have decided to resign," a grim-faced Musharraf, wearing a sober suit and tie, said in a televised address to the nation. "I leave my future in the hands of the people." Musharraf said he would hand his resignation to the speaker of the national assembly (lower house of parliament) later on Monday.
http://dawn.com/...
Here is a good chronology of Musharraf's rule in Pakistan: India Times
It's good news for people of Pakistan as Musharraf is extremely unpopular right now. I do hope that he's held accountable for overthrowing a democratically elected government and violating the constitution. However, this diary is not so much about Pakistan as it's about the US foreign policy related to Pakistan.
Musharraf has been one of the most ineffective pieces in the Afghanistan policy puzzle. Bush government has been giving him $1,000,000,000 (a billion dollars) a year for the past 7 years. According to the new government, as much as 65% of this money is unaccounted for. This is a lot of money that the US gave away without demanding any accountability. Musharraf's government has at times taken limited action in the tribal regions but without much popular support and then backed off. The situation on ground in tribal areas has grown worse over time and some of Pakistan's major citites (Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi) have experienced an increasing number of bomb blasts in recent years.
Another way Musharraf's government has appeased the US demands is by handing over 200-300 Pakistanis to US without going through any court system. The relatives of these missing Pakistanis are still waiting for their dear ones and do not even know if they are alive or not. Some of these people are probably guilty of terrorist activites, others probably not. But all of them deserved a proper trial at least.
Bush administration as well as Mccain have offered a lot of political support to Musharraf. When Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a bomb blast in Karachi in Dec 2007, Mccain went out of his way to support Musharraf:
Mr. McCain, speaking in New Hampshire, also sought to convey leader-to-leader chemistry when he called Mr. Musharraf a "personally scrupulously honest" man who deserved "the benefit of the doubt" on uniting Pakistan.
NYTimes
Obama on the other hand has stressed the need of working with a democratically elected government in Pakistan and not giving Musharraf a blank check. He has also constantly insisted on requiring Pakistan to do more whereas Bush administration has been giving Pakistan almost a free pass and money.
For this election, Pakistan is just another one of those issues where Obama has shown the right judgement and Mccain has followed a failing Bush policy. We need to make sure this is one of the memes that gets out in the air and gets more coverage.
Update 1: Video of Musharraf's resignation speech, thanks to BBC and YouTube
Update 2: Pakistanis are celebrating in the streets already.
In Wasif Khan's cramped grocery store, the perspiring crowd gathered around the little television set behind the counter erupted in wild cheers when they heard President Pervez Musharraf utter the word "resignation."
Two taxi drivers hugged each other, then ran straight outside to their cabs to sound their horns in celebration.LA Times