Imran Khan: Better A ‘Bad Democrat’

I've heard talk about the U.S. going in. They're talking about a million armed men. It would make Iraq look like child's play.

NEWSWEEK

Updated: 11:39 a.m. ET Feb 2, 2008

From the magazine issue dated Feb 11, 2008

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Pakistan's Imran Khan, a world-renowned cricket star turned politician, visited the United States recently to urge Washington to end its support for President Pervez Musharraf. With Pakistan descending into ever more bloodshed and chaos, and parliamentary elections fast approaching, Khan spoke with NEWSWEEK's Fareed Zakaria, Tony Emerson and Jonathan Tepperman about the spiraling crisis and what Washington should do about it. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: What do you hope to achieve by meeting with U.S. politicians?
Khan: Musharraf has convinced people here that he is the only one who can combat terrorism and protect Pakistan's nuclear weapons. I've come to give the other side of the story.

What do you expect to happen in the parliamentary elections on Feb. 18?
Had the elections been held right after Benazir [Bhutto's] assassination [on Dec. 27], her party would have swept everywhere. I knew she was popular, but even I was surprised by the emotions that erupted after her death. Now the results will be more mixed.

How will Musharraf ' s party do?
You can't campaign: there's such fear of suicide attacks, and the opposition think the government will stage something. If there's low voter turnout, there's a much better chance of being able to rig the election. That's what Musharraf is hoping for. But there's a 50 percent chance he won't hold elections at all because [his party] would get so few seats.

Why?
It's not just Benazir's murder. There's an economic meltdown taking place. There are blackouts. Factories are closing. Unemployment is increasing. There's a huge fiscal deficit. A trade deficit. A wheat deficit. This has never happened before.

Are the Americans pushing for elections?
The only thing the Bush administration is pushing [for] is Musharraf. I cannot understand it. Last year was the bloodiest year in Pakistan's history. We had almost 60 attacks. [Extremists] hit the Army right in its headquarters. The whole tribal area could blow up.

What ' s the answer? Musharraf has tried force, and signing deals, in the tribal areas.
No one understands these areas. I don't think many people in Pakistan understand them.

Details of the intriguing secret US plans have started appearing in its media and it has been disclosed that, a new US sponsored political leadership is in the making again in Pakistan, to replace the existing one but in all probabilities,this time it will be different in concept. It is being expected that, Washington will push for a more compliant and subservient political leadership, with no commitments to the local national interests. It will be a leadership that will serve to the best satisfaction in serving all interests of the US, including material interests, without much raised eyebrows. Presently employed indirect rule by the Pakistani military and intelligence apparatus is to be replaced with more direct type of US interference, including an expanded US military presence within Pakistan. This would start more aggressive initiatives of Washington's ongoing plans to extend the Middle East war to a much bigger and wider area.

According to a recent analysis by the US media watch-dogs, special forces are working to expand the US presence in Pakistan, apparently to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency and clandestine counter-terrorism units. But, basic requirement to justify any such program beyond doubts is, to beef-up its covert "support to the terrorists", the essential requirement for the program, because the extended terror, no war against terror can be accelerated. This is part of the strategy, main target of which is, to create circumstances leading to a Yugoslavia type break-up of the country riven by civil war, bloodshed and inter-provincial rivalries, by about 2015.

Simplest tool of achieving such objectives is in employing "Chaos creating World Bank-IMF prescriptions", which are well known to the down trodden world. Situations are engineered which invariably trigger hyperinflation and precipitate indebted countries into extreme poverty. Then the IMF's "debt reduction" procedures are introduced under wonder drug treatment packages, essential part of which is always in sell-off to foreign capital of the most profitable State owned enterprises, at rock-bottom prices. These covert operation, are generally part of the military coups, synchronized with the imposition of IMF-World Bank macro-economic reforms introduced as emergency treatment initiatives under SOS.

Imran Khan is a sportsman at heart and considers everything a fair-play even in politics. He needs to change his thinking and transform his inbuilt nature. An almost impossible proposition. Unless he starts realizing the real odds, he cannot even begin to stand, not to speaking of treading and galloping in political fields..

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Posted By: tayyabmail @ 02/15/2008 11:39:15 AM

I would like to thank newsweek for covering Imran Khan and providing a voice to the alternative opinion from Pakistan...which is gaining momentum in the country. Imran khan remains a leading light and a hope for pakistans future.

Also, US will benefit more by supporting democracy in Pakistan. Democratic country can nerver support terrorism. It is the cure for extremism.

Cheers
tayyab
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Posted By: Abbasi67 @ 02/06/2008 1:58:01 PM

Imran is the most sincere, honest and patriotic politician Pakistan has at this hour.
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Posted By: Houlbelat @ 02/05/2008 3:11:15 PM

Details of the intriguing secret US plans have started appearing in its media and it has been disclosed that, a new US sponsored political leadership is in the making again in Pakistan, to replace the existing one but in all probabilities,this time it will be different in concept. It is being expected that, Washington will push for a more compliant and subservient political leadership, with no commitments to the local national interests. It will be a leadership that will serve to the best satisfaction in serving all interests of the US, including material interests, without much raised eyebrows. Presently employed indirect rule by the Pakistani military and intelligence apparatus is to be replaced with more direct type of US interference, including an expanded US military presence within Pakistan. This would start more aggressive initiatives of Washington's ongoing plans to extend the Middle East war to a much bigger and wider area.

According to a recent analysis by the US media watch-dogs, special forces are working to expand the US presence in Pakistan, apparently to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency and clandestine counter-terrorism units. But, basic requirement to justify any such program beyond doubts is, to beef-up its covert "support to the terrorists", the essential requirement for the program, because the extended terror, no war against terror can be accelerated. This is part of the strategy, main target of which is, to create circumstances leading to a Yugoslavia type break-up of the country riven by civil war, bloodshed and inter-provincial rivalries, by about 2015.

Simplest tool of achieving such objectives is in employing "Chaos creating World Bank-IMF prescriptions", which are well known to the down trodden world. Situations are engineered which invariably trigger hyperinflation and precipitate indebted countries into extreme poverty. Then the IMF's "debt reduction" procedures are introduced under wonder drug treatment packages, essential part of which is always in sell-off to foreign capital of the most profitable State owned enterprises, at rock-bottom prices. These covert operation, are generally part of the military coups, synchronized with the imposition of IMF-World Bank macro-economic reforms introduced as emergency treatment initiatives under SOS.

Imran Khan is a sportsman at heart and considers everything a fair-play even in politics. He needs to change his thinking and transform his inbuilt nature. An almost impossible proposition. Unless he starts realizing the real odds, he cannot even begin to stand, not to speaking of treading and galloping in political fields..