Pakistan: Puppets and puppeteers

What the US is finding extremely hard to achieve in the case of Iran i.e. the reversal and annihilation of its nuclear programme, politicians such as Benazir Butto, Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, for their own selfish and egoistic reasons, are prepared to hand over in the case of Pakistan.

In the absence of strong national leadership and with politicians busy squabbling over the lucrative ministries and parliamentary seats now that the January 2008 election date has been announced, any ensuing future anarchy and chaos as a result of an escalation of the ongoing struggle between seemingly secular elements and extremist militants in the country, would conveniently justify a potential UN-sanctioned US-led operation to “secure” the Pakistani nuclear assets. In the aftermath of such actions, any remaining nuclear infrastructure would be effectively rendered incapable of any future usage by either the militant Islamists, as is the growing apprehension within the West, or any secular governments who may wish to align the country closer to emerging markets such as China and India in pursuit of long-term economic stability and independence from US-centric policies.

Musharraf's political astuteness and military wisdom may have saved the country from the wrath of US in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, avoiding a fate similar to that of Afghanistan by becoming a close ally of the US, but his prolonged reluctance to meaningfully engage with western backed political puppets and an attempt to devolve governance down to grassroots levels, has earned him no favours from the power-hungry corrupt politicians, bureaucrats or the feudal lords.

Neither do seemingly liberal but anti-western right-wingers such as Imran Khan or the hardline religio-politcal parties hold any admiration for Musharraf's attempt to empower women by reserving 33% of seats in the National Assembly for them or his zeal to transform the country's social character into a modern, liberal and a secular one, apparently on the same framework as Turkey, away from a largely conservative one, underpinned by centuries old tribal customs, riddled with outdated value systems, whose populace mindset is controlled by Saudi-trained Mullahs bearing a rather rigid and twisted interpretation of Islamic values and teachings.

It may also appear that the intentions of our politicians, whose deep-rooted personal animosities towards each other are no secret, do not rest at all with thoughts based on national reconciliation or interest, but on a well thought out foreign prescribed agenda, which would either strengthen the power of Musharraf or the future Presidents of Pakistan and through them the Military Inc., instead of the elected assemblies,

Or

... it may very well lead to such deliberately engineered chaos in the country, which would make rendering the nuclear capabilities of the sole Muslim nuclear state, a lot easier for the US to disable, than it is proving in the case of another aspiring nuclear Muslim state, i.e. Iran.