Comments on: How Pakistan Could Unravel 50 Years of Security in South East Asia http://www.bloggernews.net/111827 High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news. Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:19:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Abbas http://www.bloggernews.net/111827#comment-132884 Abbas Wed, 21 Nov 2007 20:08:07 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/111827#comment-132884 Well I do not want to be personal but this article is soooo much out of ground realities. We all know that US dont like to deal with "Parliments" instead they love to call the Generals and Kings as it becomes much easy that way. However the drawback is that you distance yourself with people and civil society to the point where they percieve US the real enemy instead of dictators it is supporting. Wrongly or rightly, Osama concluded that as well. There should be no two views when it comes to doing "Right" things and not what suits in the "short run". Let us make this world a better place by believing in Justice. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere" Pakistanies must get full support of US and all others in freeing its Judiciary and making it truly a democratic society. Thanks Well I do not want to be personal but this article is soooo much out of ground realities. We all know that US dont like to deal with “Parliments” instead they love to call the Generals and Kings as it becomes much easy that way. However the drawback is that you distance yourself with people and civil society to the point where they percieve US the real enemy instead of dictators it is supporting. Wrongly or rightly, Osama concluded that as well.

There should be no two views when it comes to doing “Right” things and not what suits in the “short run”. Let us make this world a better place by believing in Justice. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere”

Pakistanies must get full support of US and all others in freeing its Judiciary and making it truly a democratic society.

Thanks

]]> By: John Scharbach http://www.bloggernews.net/111827#comment-132079 John Scharbach Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:47:22 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/111827#comment-132079 Look, Ayatollah Khomeini came back, pretending to be a centrist, or at least a relatively innocent figure, the Army declared its neutrality, and under the banner of a moderate Islamic Republic slowly and deliberately consolidated right wing zealots (including a small segment who had taken up arms against the government already, fighting a small insurgency already), center-left and center-right moderates (people united by their distaste for the Shah and his crackdowns), and grew progressively more religiously conservative as his power base grew. Centrist groups, who already had a penchant for boycotting elections (sound familiar?), boycotted a handful of elections, in which Ayatollah Khomeini won resounding victories for his extremely vague and amorphous "Islamic Republic," and before we knew it, Iran was firmly in the hands of a right-wing zealot posing as a moderate man of faith. Is it a perfect analogy? Of course not. But the argument is based around a similarity of conditions, namely a small band of insurgent Islamist radicals on the fringes of society that rely in no small part on outside support, a broad center-right center-left group of protesters, and more "moderate" religious leaders united solely by all opposing a U.S. supported dictator with a poor track-record on human rights. Numbers aren't everything -- and in fact the numbers aren't that off-base with the pre-Revolution numbers in Iran. What the Islamists lack in their popular support (amongst people who haven't already taken to the hills to take pot shots at the Army), they make up for in (1) having guns, (2) having a broad outside network of support, (3) the ability to make themselves and their more moderate counterparts appear to be martyrs, and finally (4) a totally, unsubmitting religious fervor to succeed in their goal. Look, Ayatollah Khomeini came back, pretending to be a centrist, or at least a relatively innocent figure, the Army declared its neutrality, and under the banner of a moderate Islamic Republic slowly and deliberately consolidated right wing zealots (including a small segment who had taken up arms against the government already, fighting a small insurgency already), center-left and center-right moderates (people united by their distaste for the Shah and his crackdowns), and grew progressively more religiously conservative as his power base grew.

Centrist groups, who already had a penchant for boycotting elections (sound familiar?), boycotted a handful of elections, in which Ayatollah Khomeini won resounding victories for his extremely vague and amorphous “Islamic Republic,” and before we knew it, Iran was firmly in the hands of a right-wing zealot posing as a moderate man of faith.

Is it a perfect analogy? Of course not. But the argument is based around a similarity of conditions, namely a small band of insurgent Islamist radicals on the fringes of society that rely in no small part on outside support, a broad center-right center-left group of protesters, and more “moderate” religious leaders united solely by all opposing a U.S. supported dictator with a poor track-record on human rights.

Numbers aren’t everything — and in fact the numbers aren’t that off-base with the pre-Revolution numbers in Iran.

What the Islamists lack in their popular support (amongst people who haven’t already taken to the hills to take pot shots at the Army), they make up for in (1) having guns, (2) having a broad outside network of support, (3) the ability to make themselves and their more moderate counterparts appear to be martyrs, and finally (4) a totally, unsubmitting religious fervor to succeed in their goal.

]]> By: Haleel Sarwar http://www.bloggernews.net/111827#comment-132002 Haleel Sarwar Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:28:17 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/111827#comment-132002 Your logic is flawed and lacks facts. Instead of typing bullshit without facts to back them up just stick to sucking the tits your grew up playing with. Islamists have support of 7 to 8% of the general population. With 70% of the rural population voting for either PML or PPP which are neither left radical nor islamists but more centrists. Either way your report is journalism garbage, waste of time Your logic is flawed and lacks facts. Instead of typing bullshit without facts to back them up just stick to sucking the tits your grew up playing with.

Islamists have support of 7 to 8% of the general population. With 70% of the rural population voting for either PML or PPP which are neither left radical nor islamists but more centrists. Either way your report is journalism garbage, waste of time

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