A Quickie: Zardari Tries To Hide Behind The Dead Body Of Benazir

From Fresh move to stop reopening of Swiss cases:

The federal government submitted in the Supreme Court on Monday that reopening Swiss cases would be like putting the late Benazir Bhutto on trial and it was against all norms of justice, decency, morality and law…

One thing I don’t understand: Why is SC allowing them to continue with this absurdity? They know these are only attempts to delay and not implement their verdict.

Also — and more importantly — WHY is SC ignoring the fact that the Swiss courts already convicted both Zardari and Benazir Bhutto???

Eric Margolis — hardly a part of the ‘establishment’ had an interesting piece a little while back:
Mr. 10%: Our Man in Islamabad

In it, Eric sets the record straight about that Swiss case that the SC too seems to be ignoring:

“Skeletons are dancing out of Zardari’s closets: $63 million in illegal kickbacks and commissions allegedly hidden in Swiss bank accounts; accusation of laundering $13.7 million in Switzerland. Charges of kickbacks on helicopter and warplane deals. In 2003, Swiss magistrates found Zardari and Bhutto guilty of money laundering, sentencing them to a six month suspended jail term, a fine of $50,000, and ordering them to repay $11 million to Pakistan’s government.”

Let me repeat:

“In 2003, Swiss magistrates found Zardari and Bhutto guilty of money laundering, sentencing them to a six month suspended jail term, a fine of $50,000, and ordering them to repay $11 million to Pakistan’s government.”

And exactly why is this fact not mentioned by our press??? Why is the SC ignoring it??? Why is the impression given as if the case was still ongoing and stopped in the middle??? I am even surprised SC talked of “reopening the Swiss case” when no reopening is needed. They should just be asking for implementing the Swiss verdict.

BTW: Here’s another interesting piece from the article:

Washington is almost back to square one in turbulent Pakistan. When Zardari goes or is kicked upstairs as an impotent figurehead, attention will turn to Pakistan’s 617,000-man military and its commander, Gen – or should we say “president-elect” Ashfaq Kiyani? He is already in almost constant contact with the Pentagon.

And of course we know where he is right now….

A Quickie: Benazir DID Break ‘The Deal’

I have always maintained that Benazir was killed because she broke the deal she had made with the Americans/British/Saudis/Musharraf/Kiyani, etc.

That such a deal existed and that it was broken has once again been confirmed by Musharraf.

The ‘Zardari was Elected’ Myth

All PPP representatives, the opposition, the lawyers and judges, media and alternate medai  seem not to tire of repeating this myth that “Zardari is the constitutionally elected President of Pakistan”. That cannot be further from the truth. It is but a complete fabrication. A blatant lie put forth to give legitimacy to this so called democracy. To see it, one must look at how he got to where he is:

Facing Islamist chaos and America’s Rambo, Pakistan is turning to No 10

…In a notoriously difficult foreign policy arena, injected with precious few new ideas, there are signs that Brown is ready to take Zardari seriously. The Foreign Office has already played a vigorous and little known role in getting Zardari elected president: Sir Mark Lyall Grant, the FCO political director, used his offices to elegantly strong-arm Pakistani political factions exiled to the UK into voting for the PPP’s presidential candidate. In a daring move, the MQM party, which has offices in north London – and was set against the PPP – was talked into becoming temporary champion of a PPP machine it had previously only bombed and shot at….

Zardari is the New Musharraf

…Financial and political support from Washington helped engineer Zardari into power. He has been put in charge of the millions a month in overt and secret cash flow from Washington — $11.2 billion officially since 2001 — that Musharraf used to buy influence. Contrary to Washington’s claims it was neutral in the race between Zardari and his rival, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Washington spent a great deal of money and energy trying to sideline Nawaz, who has long been unpopular in Washington as insufficiently responsive to US interests….

Here’s James Petras in ‘Masters of Defeat: Retreating Empire and Bellicose Bluster‘

…The ‘election’ of the US client and convicted warlord and thug, Asif Ali Zadari, as President of Pakistan, will not in anyway contribute to the recovery of US influence outside of very limited elite political and military circles…

I know, I know. He is the “elected” representative of the people — people from the UK Foreign Office and US State Department 😛

Desperate Zardari Buries Benazir Bhutto

Zardari seems to be reaching new levels of desperation. Yesterday, he tried to ban Dr Shahid Masood’s program “Meray Mutabiq” by stopping it’s transmission from Dubai (though it still made the airwaves).

Another sign of his desperation is that he seems to have dug out the old picture of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and buried the picture of Benazir Bhutto — do excuse the pun.

Here are a few pictures from earlier:

And here is one from their meeting yesterday:

Additional Reading:
Rule by Thieves
PPP covering up Musharraf crimes
Government stops NAB from presenting annual report
NAB says lists are ok, as per files
If NRO ministers go, the president has to follow
Bhagwandas declines FPSC job
(If I recall, Justice Bhagwandas was looking into the oil companies scam and gave his report against which no action has yet been taken)
Poor getting poorer
Missing persons still untraced, AG informs Supreme Court