by George Dienhart
Over the last 8 years, we have heard many complaints from the left on the rights we have lost. There are urgent calls to action to impeach the tyrant Bush. "Hurry," they say, "we must act now to ensure the survival of the republic." What was the president's transgression? Wire-tapping calls from terrorist cells that originate overseas. We also have the audacity to interrogate the very people that want to destroy us. These actions rank high on the list of impeachable offenses offered up by the left. The President ignores these insults, and marches on, trying to protect the free world. He works to keep our children safe. He ensures the survival of the republic.
What does an actual tyrant do? We saw over the weekend. An actual tyrant arrests 1500 people over 48 hours. He suspends the constitution- every last line. He impinges freedom of speech. He fires opposition judges and grants “emergency powers” powers to local authorities. These emergency powers allow the violent reprisals against those who stand against him. Our tyrant has a name, and it is Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
What set off this firestorm? Pakistani Supreme Court Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was removed from his post on Saturday. This was done just as the Supreme Court was preparing to rule on Musharraf's Oct. 6 re-election. A contested election? In America, it was up to election officials to decide a contested presidential election. The results were later verified as correct by major media organizations. In a true tyranny, power is consolidated violently. There is no room for a dissenting voice, or freedom of speech. There are no protests allowed, not inside the government, or on the streets.
In a tyranny, there are no celebrities calling for the president to resign. There are no former presidential candidates touring the world, pushing their own personal agendas. There are no former presidents traveling from country to country, undermining their nation’s foreign policy. Former Directors of Central Intelligence do not retire and go on book tours. In a tyranny, such figures are imprisoned. This is what has happened in Islamabad. Key Musharraf critics have been arrested. The list includes Javed Hashmi, he is the acting president of the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. A cricket star-turned politician, Imran Khan was also arrested. Asma Jehangir, chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Hamid Gul, former chief of the main intelligence agency have also been arrested. We also need to remember the assassination attempt on Benazir Bhutto.
Now that we established who is a President, and who is a tyrant, what should our President do in regards to the tyrant Musharraf? The most important thing to remember is that the tyrant has nuclear weapons, and a close proximity to terrorist states. If ever there was an argument to keep Iran from building Nuclear weapons, this is it. The United States must ensure that Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons remain secure. As a nation, this must be our first priority, no matter what the cost. Even if it means committing U.S. troops to ensure that the weapons stay out of terrorist hands.
Yes, I said it. We need to, at best, ensure that the weapons stay in the hands of a stable, pro-American government. At worst, we need to move in and secure the weapons. I’m sure we know here they are. I’m also sure that our military could secure the weapons and remove them from Pakistan. It would not be easy, and it would not be bloodless. It would keep the weapons out of the hands of Islamic extremists, and off the streets of American cities.
We knew that Nuclear Weapons in Pakistan were bad. At least I knew. Apparently, the Clinton administration had no strong feelings either way. On May 28, 1998 Pakistan announced that it had successfully conducted five nuclear tests You remember 1998. It was toward the end of the Clinton administration. Pakistan could have built nuclear weapons during the Reagan and Bush administrations. They did not. Again, we see that Bill Clinton is responsible for a major foreign policy blunder. This one could potentially result in thousands of American deaths.
President Bush has started out on the right Path. We are calling for Gen. Musharraf to back away from the brink, and restore civil liberties. The danger lies within people of Pakistan. What if Musharraf loses power in a coup? Which faction will persevere? Who will have the launch codes, and how much will they cost? I fear the price may well be paid with American lives. Either with the lives of our military or with the lives of the victims of a nuclear terror attack. The price will be hundreds of lives, vs. hundreds of thousands of lives. The decision is coming up faster than anyone wants to admit. We must ensure the safety of the United States, and as always, there will be a price. We need to act now to ensure that the price is not a major American city.
