EXCLUSIVE: Bhutto’s Husband’s Letter to Condi Rice
The widower of slain Pakistani political leader Benazir Bhutto sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that is a political hand grenade wrapped in flowery language.
Asif Ali Zadari, Bhutto’s husband and co-chairman of her political party, makes a series of far-reaching demands that, if adopted, would transform America’s relationship with Pakistan and possibly endanger the regime.
PJ Media received the letter on an exclusive basis from a source close to Bhutto’s family [see the letter below].
In it, Zadari writes that President Musharraf’s power to hold Pakistan together is “consistently eroding,” despite emergency rule, questioning the legitimacy of upcoming parliamentary elections.
“Without going into the substance of the allegations and suspicions widely expressed about the circumstances surrounding the murder of my wife, I ask you how effective a regime can be as an ally in the war against terrorism if, after an act of terrorist violence, people feel angrier about their government than they do about the terrorists?”
Zadari calls for freeing international election observers from senseless restrictions imposed by the Pakistani state: allowing them to visit polling places without advance notice and to conduct their own exit polls, among other changes.
Finally, Zadari demands the release of all political prisoners and replacing the federal and provincial governments with “neutral administrations.” The new agencies would have to have their staffs approved by all major political parties.
Though it is dated January 8, a Pakistan People’s spokesman told me that it probably was received by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s senior staff on January 18.
Pakistan, despite its cross-cutting allegiances, is arguably America’s most vital ally in the war on terror. More senior al-Qaeda operatives have been captured in
Pakistan than any other nation on Earth – including Afghanistan or Iraq. The operational planner of the 9-11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, as well as his deputy, Ramzi Bihalshib were among the some 700 al Qaeda operatives killed or captured there since 2001.
On the other hand, Pakistan is a critical staging area for attacks on U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan and safe haven for many al Qaeda leaders, likely including Osama bin Laden. While Pakistan may not be able to control terrorist movements, successive leaders have promoted an Islamist ideology in schools and military academies.
A U.S. senior military officer, who asked not to be identified who was recently involved maintaining military-to-military relations with Pakistan told me how Pakistan is gradually becoming harder to work with. He said the creeping Islamization, which began in the 1980s, has reached the senior office corps. At one time Pakistani generals had invited him to dinner with their wives and invariably offered a whiskey beforehand. It was all very British.
Today, many of the senior officers are bearded, wives are not seen and alcohol consumption unheard of. These are just the surface signs of a larger trend underway. Finally, Pakistan is a nuclear state, which developed its weapons to be used against India. Pakistan has long had strong ties with China and Saudi Arabia.
With that background in mind, the U.S. State department’s Pakistan desk officer received the letter from Bhutto’s widower – and faced a tricky diplomatic dilemma. Usually, when the officer receives a letter addressed to the Secretary of State, he writes a brief memo summarizing the contents to Rice’s inner circle on the department’s seventh floor and ships a copy to the country’s ambassador. What to do in this case?
This letter won’t be so easy to address. The assassination of Bhutto drew world-wide sympathy and the attention of Congress – much of what Zadari wants to take place, in a perfect world, would be completely reasonable as far as the U.S. government is concerned. But in the reality of Pakistan today, they are potentially explosive.
Welcome to the bizarre world of American diplomacy 2008. In order to maintain a critical, albeit imperfect ally, America’s diplomats believe they must oppose the (mostly) legitimate of the democratic opposition.
Yet, if America pressures Pakistan to grant the demands that Benazir Bhutto’s widow is making, the Islamists may well come to power.
Richard Miniter is PJ Media’s Washington correspondent.
Mr Zadari is just as bad as all the people he points fingers at in this letter. Mr 10% (as he is known) will be thinking of how he can make profit from this new setup !
The Bhuttos have looted the country for several decades and will continue to do so until real democracy come to Pak.
US needs to clear the place up and the 1st thing to do is get rid of the ISI, army and the maddrass that cause ilamisation of the country.
“…and possibly endanger the regime.”
Who cares what Asif Ali “Mr. Ten Percent” Zadari has to say about anything? His selfish family manipulated the Pakistani people for years. The United States must be careful about weakening the current government if it might inadvertently help the Islamic nihilists. We don’t need another Ngo Dinh Diem.
Although, at the rate Rice is sending US interests down the tube and trying to destroy Israel this letter will probably be accepted and acted upon ASAP.
Drugstore Cowgirl: I was thinking the same exact thing!
What Mr. Zardari is demanding is perfectly reasonable. No one in Pakistan is going to trust a Pakistani investigation.
The Pakistani military and intelligence agencies have long sympathized with Islamists. Even Gen. Musharraf declared he was “the best friend of the Taliban” and cooperating with the Americans to protect them.
Elections are routinely rigged, as news reports have former officials showing how the last one was rigged. Why should monitors be restricted? The military has every incentive to help the Islamists win.. after all the Islamists in parliament have consistently supported the General and the Pakistani military.
As a friend of the dictatorship, the USA is seen as an enemy of democracy and human rights (at least whenever it doesn’t fit their policy) by liberal and secular people. In particular, by secular Sindhis and Balochs, who are being crushed by the Pakistani military, and who like the Kurds in Iraq, would otherwise be natural allies of Americans.
Consider the impact of the ruthless war crimes (such as bombing villages, starving children by cutting off food supplies) that Pakistan is committing against secular Balochistan nationalists with American weapons. Contrast it with what it has been doing meanwhile: signing on again, off again peace treaties with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda sympathizers, and looking the other way as they cross borders to engage in terrorism in Afghanistan.
SHAME ON ZARDARI FIRST OF ALL
Shame on him who secretely writes letters to AMERICA which has no right to interfere in any country’s internal politics just like US will not allow any country to interfere in its internal politics. Shame on him that he invites the outsiders to interfere.
When will these 10 percent popular people understand and be able to make the other people understand that US interference will not be tolerated at any cost in Pakistan.
Our Prophet Mohammad (p.b.u.h) said : “Jaisi awam waise hukmaran”. In context of this Hadith we are to be blamed more than our leaders. In 62 years of our history they all failed to provide the basic necessaties to the common instead their assets increased. Every one knows that since 911 Musharaf received $10 billion in aid from USA, In muzafarabad eathquake he collected billions in his fund. Government has proof of all this but still he was allowed to leave without any accountability with concent of these so called democratic parties giving reason that they don’t want to play the blame game. Comparing this to the fact that what our law enforcement agencies (be it Police or Army) do to a common man if he steals even a piece of bread. Americans keep on bombimg talibans (as claimed by them) but who bothers to confirm whether they were Talibans or civilians. We blindly beleive what our Father (USA) says. In response what we do is just “muzammat”. If USA is so fond of bringing peace why hadn’tit solved the issue of Kashmir, Palestine & the list goes on. Neither they care about the world nor our politicians care about us. We are always being fooled b’coz they know we can b easily. We are afraid of US more that ALLAH. Except Allah there is no superpower, proof: when there was nothing in this world Allah was there, Now when there is every thing in this world Allah is still there nd when there will be nothing left, ALLAH will still b there. We should understand that the gov. of USA has a simple motto “Build an Asset, Use it & when not needed Destroy it”. We are made to believe that with the pressure of democratic forces Musharaf was forced to resign, Instead behind the scene it was US. Israel has 600 warheads & still building it underground but no one bothers to question it. America has the latest in Weapons & it sells to all the nations without asking any one but it can’t allow Muslim nation to have it & don’t forget that US is the only nation which has ever used Atom bombs. No one dares to question it’s double standard. Stop believing your politicians, they all lie be it PPP, MLN, MMA, ANP etc etc.For political reasons they separate & for their own political reasons they unite. We are disposable for them.