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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Aug-2008
Pakistan government combines chaos with paralysis as Musharraf is threatened with impeachment.

Web Log - August, 2008

Pakistan government combines chaos with paralysis as Musharraf is threatened with impeachment.

The army may have to step in.

One of the major themes of this web site over the years has been the increasing paralysis of one government after another, among those countries that fought World War II as a crisis war.

The main example has been the United States itself. After WW II ended, the survivors were united in the determination that nothing so horrible should even happen again, and particularly should never happen to their children.

To this end, the survivors did some great things -- they created the United Nations, World Bank, Green Revolution, World Health Organization, International Monetary Fund, and so forth. They created these organizations and managed them for decades with one purpose in mind: That their children and grandchildren would never have to go through anything so horrible as World War II. Now all those people are gone, and the people left behind have no idea what's going on or what to do. They're unable to lead or govern. All they know how to do is whine and complain, and wait until the next disaster, the next world war, forces them to do great things as well.

The same thing has happened in country after country. Europe is totally dysfunctional in its attempt to get a constitution adopted. Israel's government has an approval rating of close to zero. The Palestinians have split into two factions that are close to civil war. Japan's government has gone from scandal to scandal.

In Pakistan, the last couple of years have seen the government go down the same path.

Last July (2007), there was a spectacular Red Mosque attack in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, leading to a substantial weakening of President Pervez Musharraf.

Official map of Pakistan, with the addition of the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), highlighting Swat Valley <font face=Arial size=-2>(Source: pakistan.gov.pk)</font>

Official map of Pakistan, with the addition of the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), highlighting Swat Valley (Source: pakistan.gov.pk)

Then in December, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto threw the planned parliamentary elections into chaos, and Musharraf's party was crushed by opposition leaders who were more interested in vengeance and infighting than in governing. As a result, Pakistan's government is completely paralyzed and rudderless, unable to cope with the country's substantial problems.

What happened on Thursday is a further disaster for this country already facing disaster.

The opposition leaders announced on Thursday that they would seek the immediate impeachment of Musharraf.

This means that the already dysfunctional government will be spending weeks or months on this process. This is clearly a move of political revenge, and the entire country will suffer for it.

It leaves an opening for the army to take over. The Pakistan army has a history of government coups when things look really chaotic. Musharraf himself came to power in 1999 through an army coup.

Meanwhile, India is deploying 10,000 more troops to the ongoing conflict in Kashmir. The new troops will particularly target violent Hindu demonstrations.

And, in Pakistan's Swat Valley and in the FATA (tribal areas), the Pakistan security forces are in a continuing major conflict with the Taliban.

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, a re-fighting of the massively genocidal war following the 1947 Partition is coming with absolute certainty. This war will involve numerous ethnic groups, but underlying it will be Sunni Muslims versus Hindus + Shia Muslims. (8-Aug-2008) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Aug-2008 Pakistan government combines chaos with paralysis as Musharraf is threatened with impeachment.

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Aug-2008
Pakistan government combines chaos with paralysis as Musharraf is threatened with impeachment.