The Who’s Who of Pakistan’s Fallible Men

I can vividly recall a quote by the late veteran Baloch politician Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti from the 1990s when I used to cover parliamentary proceedings in Islamabad. Commenting on the deplorable state of affairs and the apathy of legislators, he had said on the floor of the house: “Give me 217 crores, and I will buy you the entire parliament.”

He was referring to the number of members of the National Assembly then, and their eagerness to fall in line for a price tag. Incidentally, the then Speaker of the National Assembly Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, who is Prime Minister now, had expunged the remarks. A decade down the line, Mr Gillani admits that all is not well in the Republic of Pakistan, and the curse of corruption has eaten up its vitals.

Despicable enough, the Who’s Who list of corrupt people comprises people belonging to the ruling hierarchy of the country. Moreover, it doesn’t stop there, and runs deep into many of the political parties, serving and retired bureaucrats and ex-services personnel. The staggering number of people accounted for, who had benefited from an impugned piece of legislation granting them immunity from prosecution runs into more than 8,000. Though the so-called National Reconciliation Ordinance, promulgated by former president General Pervez Musharraf, has exhausted its lifespan and has not been legislated into law, possible prosecution of the corrupt still remains a distant possibility. The list of beneficiaries, dished out by the office of Prime Minister, points a finger at President Asif Ali Zardari, many of the cabinet ministers, allies and opposition politicians, serving ambassadors, armed services personal, government secretaries, corporate bosses, top-notch bank executives, and pen pushers in the rank and file of bureaucracy.

Though corruption is hardly a secret in Pakistan, the fact that the country has risen in the dubious hierarchy to be ranked by the Transparency International at 42nd among the world’s most graft-prone countries is worrisome. The dubious distinction, as well as the corrupt reigning supreme, is not only a dilemma, but also a shame for a proud Pakistani nation. Not only the rot needs to be cleaned, the Augean stable cleared as well. Unfortunately, there is hardly any office or person to which the nation can look up to in realising such a goal. Judiciary, civil society and the media — to which the nation looks with awe — can neither dispense with their role nor take refuge behind the big leaf of excuses. The corrupt not only need to be exposed and prosecuted, but also ensured that they do not have any role in representing the nation.

It’s high time for a resilient nation to take the reins in its own hands. It has for long been taken for a ride in the name of national security, democracy and religion. Its chequered history is one of deception, dismemberment and dictators. And even today, all those at the helm of affairs have shamefully compromised with the nation’s future to enjoy the privilege of being in power to protect their petty interests. This is simply unacceptable to a nation, which is reeling under terrorism, political instability and a worsening economic crisis. Bad governance, and one with bias and discrimination, has further exacerbated the problem. Pakistan’s biggest drawback has been that it has failed to build institutions and strengthen the rule of law, and had unnecessarily relied on personality cult. The trend needs to be reversed, and made sure that it begins with a process of stringent accountability across the board. No sacred cows should be spared under any pretext.

Though not much can be expected from parliamentarians, who have their own political compulsions, this house has to act differently from its predecessors. Unlike its counterparts in the past that truncated people’s sovereignty over the affairs of the state by investing powers in a coterie of selected men, current National Assembly has to take a different approach. The NRO should never become a law in any sense. We must make sure that its beneficiaries, and the corrupt under any benchmark, are made to pay for their actions. Pakistan has an opportunity in disaster, and the parliament needs to ensure that opportunists and freebooters do not undermine its vitality and jurisdiction. As an immediate recourse, many of the controversial legislative and executive decisions taken by previous, and for that matter the present, governments need to be reviewed, and if necessary, reversed. The stigma of corruption, and the extra-burden of the corrupt, in our body politik need to be shunned. The looted billions belong to the impoverished nation, and they have every right to recover them from the pinnacle of presidency to the con artist on the street. Otherwise, late Bugti will have many a reason to laugh at in his
 eternal abode.

Support for the Continued Occupation of Afghanistan

The President is expected the announce a troop increase as well as a plan for eventual withdraw from Afghanistan in a nationally televised speech at West Point today.

As pundits and politicians offer their credulously numbing opinions, I felt it was important to give a little more context to a conflict that has now lasted longer then the Revolutionary war, the Civil War, the first and second World Wars as well as both conflicts in Iraq. In fact, of the fifteen wars Americans have fought since the Revolution, only the Vietnam war has lasted longer.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I personally support the conflict in Afghanistan, as well as the expected troop increase. However, I can not support this country walking itself into another costly military quagmire.

As Republicans criticized Obama's deliberation over whether to increase troop levels for a second time since taking office, there seemed to be little acknowledgment of the scathing report released by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee criticizing the Bush Administration's decision to redirect attention away from Afghanistan in 2001 and towards Iraq:Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tora Bora Report

"Osama bin Laden was unquestionably within reach of U.S. troops in the mountains of Tora Bora when American military leaders made the crucial and costly decision not to pursue the terrorist leader with massive force...

...the failure to kill or capture bin Laden at his most vulnerable in December 2001 has had lasting consequences beyond the fate of one man. Bin Laden's escape laid the foundation for today's reinvigorated Afghan insurgency and inflamed the internal strife now endangering Pakistan" (Yahoo)

The report cites declassified testimony and intelligence reports that confirm that Osama bin Laden was in fact hiding within the surrounded mountains of Tora Bora, and that repeated requests for troops- in some cases a mere few hundred Rangers- were denied by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. This represented not only a sweeping reversal of the Powell Doctrine, but a withdraw from the stated mission to capture bin Laden and crush al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Osama bin Laden himself was convinced of his own demise, even writing a last will and testament to his family affirming his militant convictions as well as apologizing to his children for dedicating his life to jihad.

Delta Force and CIA operatives have both publicly criticized Rumsfeld and then leading General Tommy Franks' decision to rely on Afghan troops for the assault who ultimately negotiated a cease-fire with al-Qaeda and turned their guns on CIA operatives when they attempted to engage bin Laden directly. So, when support was denied to Afghanistan and troops were drawn down, where was the outcry? Where was the criticism? How could the media fail to criticize the government's unwillingness to commit to their own goals?

Dick Cheney himself publicly championed Rumsfeld's decision, and continued to deny troop increases to Afghanistan for over seven years until President Obama finally increased troop numbers in March of this year.

The Afghan campaign up until that point had largely been a renowned success- the Taliban had been ousted and by 2002, interim President Hamid Karzai had been instated.

Just a few days after the fall of Kabul in November of 2001, Bush et. al. had already started directing Rumsfeld and Franks to draw up plans for an invasion of Iraq.

So rather then commit less then a thousand troops to finish the conflict in less the 2 months, we've instead been dragged through a 9-year, $300+ billion campaign with little to no ultimate progress to report of. As of the summer of 2009, new General Stanley McChrystal announced that the Taliban has now gained the upper hand and there's even talk of bringing the Taliban back into the political fold after initially expelling them in 2001.

It's interesting to me that Republicans are quick to cite government fallibility when it comes to criticizing government-run health care and yet are unwilling to acknowledge their own incompetence when it comes to their conduct in Afghanistan up to this point. By any accounts, the Afghan campaign was an utter failure. However, this has nothing to do with left or right and everything to do with how the entire country completely mishandled this war for 8 years. Democrats did absolutely nothing to fix or to criticize Rumsfeld's tactics until way after the damage had been done and it was "politically safe" to do so.

This brings me back to my initial statement of support for a troop increase. The fact of the matter is this is a mess that we've created and it's our responsibility to clean it up. According to a 2009 BBC poll, 63% of Afghan citizens support the U.S. military presence while 90% oppose the Taliban. By an 82-4% margin, Afghans also said they preferred the current government over the Taliban regime and a general majority feel that the U.S. presence will contribute to greater security, which along with poverty and unemployment, ranks as the highest concerns for the future of Afghanistan.



However, the Afghan government has been ranked as one of the most corrupt nations in the world, along with Iraq and Somalia. The Taliban has reemerged as a major influence in the country, and al-Qaeda continues to gain support in neighboring Pakistan. Without any western military presence, the country will most assuredly fall into greater disarray; there's little evidence yet that President Karzai's anti-corruption campaign will have a lasting effect, with over 50,000 additional troops needing to be trained.

Indeed, there is no way we can achieve any sense of stability in Afghanistan without a serious commitment of dollars and soldiers over the next few years, if not more. Yet, American and world interests are no different now then they were in 2001 when 88% of Americans supported the U.S.-lead invasion. It is only frustrating that it cost us nearly half a trillion dollars and almost a thousand American lives, as well as our reputation as bastions for human rights to make virtually zero progress. For that, let us not direct our anger at Obama for continuing the fight, but at those who chose to ignore the fight in lieu of other prospects.

Review: Junkyard Empire - Rebellion Politik

There is a land where Rock, Jazz and Hip-Hop meet over smart and passionate lyrics. It is a land filled with a vision of a better life, a better future, a better now. That land is the domain of Junkyard Empire, the Minnesota quintet that had their national coming out party on the last day of the 2008 Republican National Convention. Junkyard Empire leaves nothing unsaid; no political stone unturned, and spares no undeserving party from their social critique. This is the secret to Junkyard Empire’s second album, Rebellion Politik, a sometimes brutally honest musical roller coaster ride you won’t soon forget.

Junkyard Empire opens with Original Assumption, featuring Desdamona. The song deals with the seeds of urban decay as well as the seeds of recovering from the same. The song mixes elements of Hip-Hop, Rap and Jazz in an acoustic arrangement that is thoroughly enjoyable not only in spite of but for its apparent contradictions. Freedom is the concept explored; using some very apt social commentary to make serious points about what Freedom is and is not. Rebellion Politik is a call for Social Revolution based on Socialist Democratic principles and features some incredibly rapid fire rapping along with some highly enjoyable jazz improv on piano. Manifest is an exploration of how the powerful twist media, religion and anything else they can use to change the minds of people for their own betterment. The song hits on some of the big concepts and marketing pushes in American history and focuses on many of the things we do every day that have consequences far beyond what we can see.

RDM & Mr. Nox sit in on The Basics, a song that pays tribute to the history of Hip-Hop and calls on practitioners to remember where they came from musically. Conflict Part I (The History) looks at how the Israeli/Palestinian conflict came to be and where it is today. Junkyard Empire makes the point that Zionism began as a means to survival for Jews but has become a point of arrogance, implying that the movement has become hypocritical in light of its original purpose. To be fair, Junkyard Empire has a distinct opinion of who's right and who's wrong in the conflict, but the logical point of the song is probably worth some discussion in less polarized circles. Junkyard Empire closes with Alternate Energy Remixed, an entertaining party song that's highly danceable. It's a great light leave in the wake of some of the heavy subject matter that came before.

Junkyard Empire is the real deal. The rhymes on Rebellion Politik display a distinct lyrical talent steeped in intelligence and a strong sense of social responsibility. The acoustic arrangements are also a real treat, particularly when Junkyard Empire brings in elements of Jazz. Rebellion Politik is one of the top Hip-Hop/Rap albums I've heard in 2009.