The Water Cooler
A refreshing gulp of reports and ramblings from policy-central.
US plans for Pakistan moving forward as planned
A recent
report written by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky on behalf of
Canadian think tank
Global Research.ca suggests that the assassination of Benazir
Bhutto was anticipated by the US National Intelligence Council and
CIA, and that it fits in with larger US plans to further
destabilize the Middle East as a pretext for extending its war on
terrorism.
The likelihood that Musharraf, possibly with US help, may bave been involved in the killing of Ms. Bhutto, is laid out quite convincingly in the report. The arguments it forwards in making this point - that Musharraf and other Pakistani authorities have given conflicting and unsupported statements about how Bhutto was killed and who did it -- seem all the more convincing in the context of this article in today's BBC.
But the report goes much further with its analysis of the conflicts brewing - indeed, being brewed from abroad - in the Middle East.
The report cites various official US, Pakistani and Indian sources to show that the US, with help from the UK, has been covertly supporting organizations it categorizes as "liberation movements", while openly fighting them as "terrorists".
In fact, the report goes to the extent of suggesting that the US is secretly funding al Quaida networks, through its supposed allies in the Middle East (such as Pakistan), as a means of buttressing its future war plans and ultimate objective of factionalizing Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
It argues that under the hubris of "Balkanization", the US is following a model successfully used in the ex-Yugoslavia, to weaken exisiting regimes and replace them with others more open to its foreign policy objectives.
The report also examines the role of the World Bank in privatizing Pakistani oil in recent structural adjustment programs, and predicts a massive surge in US military presence in the country in coming months.
While it would be foolish of me to try to relay all the information contained in this riveting report, I certainly suggest clicking the link and taking a read for yourself. This is the kind of stuff conspiracy theories are made of, but researched and cited with the academic rigour of top-notch scholarship.
For more on the hopes that may remain for Pakistan, and the challenges that still lay in its path, see this cover article from this week's The Economist, called "The World's Most Dangerous Place".
The likelihood that Musharraf, possibly with US help, may bave been involved in the killing of Ms. Bhutto, is laid out quite convincingly in the report. The arguments it forwards in making this point - that Musharraf and other Pakistani authorities have given conflicting and unsupported statements about how Bhutto was killed and who did it -- seem all the more convincing in the context of this article in today's BBC.
But the report goes much further with its analysis of the conflicts brewing - indeed, being brewed from abroad - in the Middle East.
The report cites various official US, Pakistani and Indian sources to show that the US, with help from the UK, has been covertly supporting organizations it categorizes as "liberation movements", while openly fighting them as "terrorists".
In fact, the report goes to the extent of suggesting that the US is secretly funding al Quaida networks, through its supposed allies in the Middle East (such as Pakistan), as a means of buttressing its future war plans and ultimate objective of factionalizing Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
It argues that under the hubris of "Balkanization", the US is following a model successfully used in the ex-Yugoslavia, to weaken exisiting regimes and replace them with others more open to its foreign policy objectives.
The report also examines the role of the World Bank in privatizing Pakistani oil in recent structural adjustment programs, and predicts a massive surge in US military presence in the country in coming months.
While it would be foolish of me to try to relay all the information contained in this riveting report, I certainly suggest clicking the link and taking a read for yourself. This is the kind of stuff conspiracy theories are made of, but researched and cited with the academic rigour of top-notch scholarship.
For more on the hopes that may remain for Pakistan, and the challenges that still lay in its path, see this cover article from this week's The Economist, called "The World's Most Dangerous Place".
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