Previous

Contents

Next

RCT (Regime Change Time) in Pakistan
or: Don't Forget to Set Your Clocks Back a Century or Two
The Kaptain's Log
by Kaptain Kanada, aka Manuel Miles
manuel_miles@shaw.ca

Attribute to The Libertarian Enterprise

Recently, we Kanadians celebrated the coming of winter by setting our clocks back an hour. Why we do this, I have never figured out, but we will balance things out by setting them ahead in the spring. The American Empire also runs on arcane rituals, but I am beginning to get a handle on some of them.

For instance: whenever some imperial venture starts to collapse like a house of cards in a windstorm, the warmongers resort to one or another of their tried and untrue tricks in a vain effort to stave off the inevitable. One of the favourites is ye olde puppet shuffle.

This gambit is a necessity for empires as imperial puppets, unlike the marionette type, tend to get ideas in their little mercenary heads. Then they try to cut the strings which bind them to their masters, and off they go in undesirable directions. Former CIA darling Manuel Noriega did this, with the result that he learned the hard way what happens to the independent-minded imperial stooges of the world. The USA government, in its usual subtle way, began propagandising that the general was "a new Hitler" and a nasty drug runner, et cetera. This must all have come as a shock to G. Bush Sr who "ran" him when CIA director.

Now poor old Pervez Musharraf has suddenly become "an opponent of democracy". The man came to power in a military coup, but so long as he did as he was told, he was some kind of great democrat. So why now is he suddenly on the brink of becoming the next "the next Hitler" (i.e. the next target of the US Empire)?

Let's think back. . . When the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan refused to hand Osama ben Laden over to the Americans (who did not comply with the rules of international law by providing any kind of proof that ben Laden had committed a crime: they just demanded his "rendition"), the Taliban government refused, as the empire knew they would. Bingo! An excuse to invade and occupy yet another link in the chain of Asian oil pipelines.

Unhappily for the occupiers, however, the Taliban have been steadily building an effective resistance to the various warlords and the mayor of Kabul which are collectively referred to as "the Afghan national government". (Who said that imperialists have no sense of humour, eh?) They keep the Canadians cooped up in Kandahar, as they steadily re-take the surrounding countryside. They have even returned to the north of the country, and are harassing areas near Kabul.

How can they get away with this affront to the imperial writ? Well, like all successful guerilla groups, they have (relatively) secure bases nearby. . . in Pakistan. Of course, the Pakistani government signed on, quite reluctantly, to the "war on terror", and of course, despite their previous good relations with the Taliban government, the Pakistani army made a few desultory raids into the mountainous areas of the northwest which border Afghanistan, but the truth is that their hearts weren't in it and their army got its ass kicked by the local folks up there. Meanwhile, Osama sends out video-taped taunts from his base.

So here we are at regime change time. Maybe if Mrs Bhutto, or some other representative of the handful of families who constitute the Pakistani oligarchy between army coups, is shoved into power, then Pakistan will save the failing occupation of Afghanistan by waging a massive strike into the border areas. That, at least, is the imperial hope, and the reason why the neocons are waging a preparatory propaganda campaign against their erstwhile pal, Pervez.

The problems with this stupid idea are many: first among them is the fact that pulling its troops off its border with India would just about guarantee an Indian takeover of the rest of Kashmir. Next is the minor problem of the possibility of yet another army coup to prevent such a campaign. Right behind that one is the danger of a Pakistani Islamist uprising in sympathy with the Taliban.

There are probably a few more problems which I have overlooked. The point is, the kind of dictator rotation that worked (temporarily) in the 19th century doesn't do well in the 21st. Which, very possibly, the American government is on the verge of finding out.

If only the bastards would stay home and let the rest of the world try to find a little. . .

Peace and Liberty.

TLE AFFILIATE

Serenity Collectors DVD Edition
2-DVDs, extended scenes, special features, commentary
Amazon.com
Banner by 11th Hour Art