The Mystery of Musharraf

This week marks the seventh anniversary of Pervez Musharraf's rise to the leadership of Pakistan. He didn’t actually rise but take over and what is unusual about his coup d'etat, is the fact that he's still in power. Pakistani politics is rife with military coups over its history and Musharaff's military takeover of the country didn't really startle anyone in 1999.
 
But times have changed and with it, Pakistan's location became very important to the United States. This was particularly true after 9/11 and there lies the mystery.
 
When he first took power, Musharraf was often seen in full military uniform or khakis and rarely in a suit. It was an image he wanted to project to the people and the world as someone in charge; someone in control after all the fuss with India in what was commonly known as the Kargil Conflict of 1999. At the time, Musharraf was in charge of the Army and anyone who knows anything about takeovers knows that the army is a very effective tool in any coup d'etats. You need the tanks and soldiers and rifles to takeover and if necessary, "take out" the leader of the country. For Musharraf, this action came easily and bloodless, so nobody raised an eyebrow.
 
So now, Musharraf wears a suit, goes on American talk shows, writes a dubious memoir and tries to present himself as a diplomat and rational leader. How quaint.
 
But no matter how you slice it, he's still a thug and he owes a lot of favours to the men who helped him get power in the first place. Some of those men work for the government of the United States who have consistently given Pakistan billions in military and nonmilitary aid. The Bush Gang sees Pakistan as an important partner on the so-called war on terror but only because of its location. The US State Department was simply playing hardball for their own mistakes when they covertly backed the Taliban.
 
Is Musharraf actively suppressing the Taliban? Recent reports suggest he's failing to do anything about them. Is the secret service of Pakistan, the ISI, doing its share of covert fighting? Probably not. The warlords are still running parts of the Khyber, the Kurram and Waziristans.
 
What's forgotten in all of this is the role of the CIA and its relationship with the ISI. The two organizations are very close and very secretive and my guess is that they are holding Musharraf as a patsy for the US. In other words, he's cut a deal with Bush: back me up and I'll make sure you get your cut of the Afghan opium harvest every spring. Meanwhile, Musharraf has admitted that the Pakistani Air Force wants him out. So Musharraf is trying to serve two masters.
 
No wonder his book is titled, "In The Line of Fire".
 
That's just my opinion. I could be wrong.