Mushrraf should be Indicted NOT Re-elected
Musharraf was appointed COAS by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif superseding General Ali Quli Khan. If the senior General with better record of service had been appointed COAS, no one would ever have heard of Musharraf. He would have been among dozens of retired Lt. Generals almost all of who have better moral courage and character. What has he done to deserve that he should be the COAS and President in perpetuity?
1. He lost the Kargil War. Pakistani troops fought heroically and inflicted heavy losses on India but it was bad planning by Musharraf that the war could not be logistically sustained and support by Pakistan Air Force was not provided. We know the result - humiliation for Pakistan and its Army.
2. He was dismissed by Nawaz Sharif for his failure in Kargil. If he had not carried out a coup d'etat of October 1999 and dismissed Nawaz Sharif instead, he would have been living in ignominy as the first Army Chief to be dismissed for poor performance in war.
2. His role in the American Invasion of Afghanistan bordered on treachery. Almost every one agrees that it was neither wise nor possible to refuse America logistic support and the right to overfly Pakistan for the invasion of Afghanistan. But he had a role - as an ally - to prevent excessive Pakistani and Afghan casualties. It was serious dereliction of duty that he did NOT. Pakistanis were massacred in Afghanistan by America's ally - the Northern Alliance - and the bloodshed of the Pashtun - in the guise of fighting Taliban, laid the foundation of bloodletting that continues in Afghanistan till today.
3. He handed over hundreds of Mujahideen who had been fighting in Afghanistan on the invitation of - among others - Pakistan - in exchange for money, thus violating Pakistan's Law as well as the Sharia. For this he should be punished, not rewarded with another term as the President.
4. He allowed American War Planes to attack inside Pakistan to kill eminent tribal leaders and hundreds of young Madrassa students and then 'lied' that the attack was carried by Pakistani planes or that deaths resulted from an 'unfortunate accident'. He deserves punishment for this, not reward.
5. He offered to forgo the legitimate right of self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir by unilateral concessions to the enemies of Pakistan abandoning the legally impeccable stand founded on UN Security Council Resolutions. He deserves to be tried for treason for this, not rewarded with another term as President.
A dismissed COAS has been masquerading as the Army Chief and the President for Eight Years because of the political class of Pakistan who pimps for America, India or any other adventurer, looter and plunderer - local or foreign . The burden of the misdeeds of all the institution has been carried by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. I urge them not to tire of their role to save Pakistan because none else will - not the Army, not the parliament, not the politicians. The people want to be rid of Musharraf and the political Mafiosi - Q League and MQM - who carry this arch criminal on their shoulders. The Supreme Court MUST rule that Musharraf he has committed crimes for which he should be held to account, not given impunity by the Mafiosi imposing their leader (or his wife) as the President.
+Usman Khalid +