Does He Get To Keep The Bag Man?

Boy, I'd like to know what the Vegas odds were on this ... Or, of the various office pools, who had the square with August 18th (only 10 days after the 34th anniversary of Nixon's escape to avoid impeachment).

The Little Dictator Who Couldn't is stepping off his precariously-built stage.

Perhaps, even, with a Nixonian homage;

President Musharraf of Pakistan Resigns

Facing imminent impeachment charges, President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation on Monday, after months of belated recognition by American officials that he had become a waning asset in the campaign against terrorism.

Mr. Musharraf said the governing coalition, which has pushed for impeachment, had tried to “turn lies into truths,” and finished his speech by raising his clenched fists chest high and declaring, “Long live Pakistan!”

Not exactly "I am not a crook", but, I suppose, he didn't want to be laughed out of the country.

Now, I'm sure it must of crossed his mind to fight the impeachment, stand strong, blah, blah, blah, but they wanted him gone, and, after this fight, and all the heavy lifting he's been doing rounding up the terrorists, Musharraf, likely, didn't have the energy to launch a second coup.

Perhaps the more pressing question to ask, is, does he get to keep the Bag Man?

While The Commander Guy played around in Afghanistan, and Iraq, they knew that they also had to do something about Pakistan.

So, rather then open up a third front, they took an "option", putting down, more-or-less, a marker, and, instead, opened up the coffers to the tune of millions-upon-millions - in cash, directly to Musharraf and his military thugs.

Spencer Ackerman had the scoop on this last Fall;

U.S. Aid to Musharraf is Largely Untraceable Cash Transfers

In fact, however, a considerable amount of the money the U.S. gives to Pakistan is administered not through U.S. agencies or joint U.S.-Pakistani programs. Instead, the U.S. gives Musharraf's government about $200 million annually and his military $100 million monthly in the form of direct cash transfers. Once that money leaves the U.S. Treasury, Musharraf can do with it whatever he wants. He needs only promise in a secret annual meeting that he'll use it to invest in the Pakistani people. And whatever happens as the result of Rice's review, few Pakistan watchers expect the cash transfers to end.

What a difference millions of dollars make, on the big global billboard.

Rather than just be some chaotic, banana republic, Musharraf got to hang out the shingle that had the words "Democracy" scratched on it, and "Partners in the Global War Against Terrorism", even, if, from behind the shingle, Musharraf was just giving it a nod-and-a-wink.

Speculation is high on where he lands, with some of it on that Saudi Arabia is going provide the Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Memorial Exile Suite.

Cernig, over on Crooks and Liars, noted that;

The other interesting question is “what will Mushie do next?” Exile seems likeliest and there have been rumors that the US, which has long backed the former dictator, would offer him asylum. But it appears that the Saudis have stepped in, as major mediators of the resignation deal, and so Musharraf will probably retire there. Which is ironic, in that it will put the man who was ultimately in charge of the intelligence agency that was pulling Al Qaeda’s strings prior to (and post) 9/11 in the country that furnished most of the hijackers - and both Musharraf and the Saudi rulers are staunch Bush allies.

If it is Saudi Arabia, Musharraf is going to need a gated community, with impeccable security, and, at least, a two-bedroom crib - one for himself, the other for all his baggage and bad karma.

The Condoleezza Rice Ballroom Dancing & Charm School currently is running its' classes for a bunch of frisky Russians and Georgians, so the Neocon Nitwits, perhaps, only gives this a cursory glance.

But not Larisa Alexandrovna.

Pakistan has been a Looney Tunes powder keg for quite some time

In her post, "Serious crisis in Pakistan (crickets in DC)", Alexandrovna warns;

Forget the Russian-Georgian conflict for a moment. Forget Iraq for a moment. Forget everything for one moment and understand, that if Pakistan explodes into a power struggle, that struggle/conflict will be the match that lights a world war of epic proportions. A war that we are not equipped to deal with anymore. So while our entire nation is drunk on election scandal after scandal, and while our entire nation is being bled dry of finances and human treasure, no one - NO ONE - is watching this crisis as it unfolds. They are all too busy playing at politics to care and they have already long ago removed any qualified intelligence expert on Pakistan from their post. We know very well that this administration replaced qualified people with political sock-puppets who are now in positions to fuck things up even more, but certainly not to understand the brewing world crisis.

To be clear, I loathe Musharraf and want him removed from office. But right now, any change, big or small in the region is going to be a catastrophe. A change of ISI-backed Musharraf is going to be an epic catastrophe.

Another "gift" the Bush Grindhouse leaves the next (Obama) administration.

Bonus Bon Voyage Links

The Independent: Now Saudis offer dignified solution for Musharraf; Beleaguered President is given a lifeline to avoid impeachment

Brilliant at Breakfast: Because in Pakistan, their Constitution still matters

emptywheel: Dick Blows Pakistan

As Goes Pakistan, So Goes Iowa ... But I'm Still Putting My Money On Colonel Mustard and Ms. Scarlet ...

Renault: By the way Monsieur, last night, you evinced an interest in Signor Ugarte
Laszlo: Yes
Renault: I believe you have a message for him
Laszlo: Nothing important, but may I speak to him now?
Strasser: You would find the conversation a trifle one-sided. Signor Ugarte is dead
Ilsa: Oh ...
Renault: I am making out the report now. We haven't quite decided whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.

From the movie, 'Casablanca'

Boy, and we all thought that it was just Iraq that the Bush Grindhouse & Regime was going to leave the next President - and us - as a pile of shit.

Iraq may end up looking like Main Street USA, on July 4th, with what goes down in Pakistan.

And now, The Little Dictator Who Could, and his Pakistani Government, is giving its' citizens their own, and what will be just as enduring, conspiracy, along the lines of Oswald's Magic Bullet, on how Bhutto died.

It wasn't from being shot.

It wasn't from the bomb.

Drum roll, please ... It was from Bhutto ducking down through the sunroof and hitting her head on the sunroof lever.

Got that?

Perhaps, they are looking to avoid being dragged into court, and giving Bhutto's family an out, to sue the manufacturer of the vehicle she was in, for faulty design.

The lever of a sunroof? ... That makes William Holden's death look absolutely dignified!

Along with funding The Little Dictator Who Could, they must be giving the Pakistanis PR lessons - Blame The Victim.

Just as it was the people of New Orleans suffered for up to five-days, stranded on rooftops, and going without food or water, wasn't due to an obtuse government, they just didn't get out of the way when they were told to ... Bhutto, trying to get out of the way, dies because she ducked, as if to say, if she didn't duck, she would still be alive today ...

Ohhh boy! ...

One thing not going ducking or going down, is The Little Dictator Who Could, Pervez Musharraf.

He is the poster boy for Bush Grindhouse brand of democracy.

With The Commander Guy, holding on tightly to his Democracy blankee, calling for the continuation of planned elections, despite the leading opposition candidate being murdered, and the other party indicating they will boycott, in protest, said election, that's democracy folks.

Well ... You don't, necessarily, need to have banana trees to be a banana republic ...

The Condoleezza Rice Ballroom Dancing & Charm School surely didn't have this in their lesson plan. Perhaps, all those countries that came to Annapolis, they should be inquiring about refunds

And I would love to be a fly-on-the-wall the next time Condi makes one her "Democracy Calls". Perhaps the Bush Grindhouse will have to add body armor - and safer sunroofs - to their all-in-one Democracy-In-A-Box kits.

As has been the hallmark of the Bush Grindhouse, it comes down to the "appearance" of doing something, not actually doing it that counts.

Condi pushed Bhutto to come back to Pakistan, to "balance out" the phony democracy thing, all the while her boss has continued to fund Musharraf (and when we say fund, we mean directly - payments of all those billions have gone directly to The Little Dictator Who Could, not to the Pakistan government or treasury).

The Bush Grindhouse Foreign Policy in all its resplendent living color.

And, if you happen to be following this story via the American MSM and Cable News, you can only come away with this is the worst disaster in our history - and they've turned to the absolute, top Pakistan experts to draw this position - the dwarfs, finks, phonies and frauds running for President.

It was been playing out more like a reality TV game show, with the money question being "What would you do if you were President?" ... Answer it correctly to get a big bounce into the final round, being next weeks' Iowa caucus ...

I'm sure all the depressed and bereaved Pakistanis have dollops of hope filling their hearts, knowing that next weeks' Iowa voting will aid moving their country forward, solve all its' problems and, by George, institute all that democracy like it was an episode of Extreme Makeover.

About the only thing the Talking Heads on Cable News didn't indulge in, if it was Colonial Mustard, or Miss Scarlet, who killed Benizar Bhutto ... But the time is young, and it there's still plenty of on-air hours to fill, at least before they drop the story to roll into their canned, New Years' Eve specials.

What a boon for Cable Television ... The lazy, slumbering days between Christmas and New Years, with all those nauseating "Best Lists" and montages who kicked the bucket this year could be shuttered aside - We have HOT News!

It wasn't their standard "missing white woman" but the did apply the "Anna Nicole Smith" principles, so they could roll out all the heavy equipment just the same, to go wall-to-wall with its' coverage.

And with such the controversy over how Bhutto died, it will only be a matter of time, before we see a big, SUV in-studio, on either Wolf Blitzer's monitor-laden set (is he moonlighting for Circuit City?), or MSNBC (we should see a new Doc-Bloc Special, probably, within a month - "Sunroof Deaths"), complete with a Bhutto-sized rally crowd of experts, to dismantle the SUV's sunroof, and roll out a bushel of theories on how it all happened, the angle and speed in which she would have fell, the confusion if the sunroof lever was metal, metal alloy or plastic, only extending the exercise to bring in even more Talking Heads.

For now, we'll just have to wait and see how bad it gets - in Pakistan - and, on our television sets, as to just how far over-the-top they take this.

All those glamor boys, like Anderson Cooper and Matt Lauer, to dispatch to Pakistan ... Brian Williams, all decked out in his best L.L.Bean khakis, doing stand-ups "from the scene, where democracy was attacked" ... Katie Couric's grinning puff pieces, probably getting all her content directly from The Little Dictator Who Could, so we'll know she has the connections, to get the dirt, like a good little tough anchorwoman.

So, for all those expert Presidential candidates, here's some advise, despite what happened to Bhutto, if someone comes running at you while campaigning, wearing a bomb belt and firing a gun, for God's Sake, duck!

Meantime, The Little Dictator Who Could has given the order; "Round up the usual suspects."


Bonus - And Some Must-Read - Links

Juan Cole: Pakistan's 2007 Crises Come to a Crescendo; Benazir Assassinated; Implications for US Security

Larisa Alexandrovna: Now about Pervez Musharraf (and his ISI handlers)...

Digby: Pakistan Crisis For Dummies

emptywheel: Dick Blows Pakistan

Ahmed Rashid: THE GENERAL IN HIS LABYRINTH - America's Bad Deal With Musharraf, Going Down in Flames

Christopher Hitchens: Daughter of Destiny Benazir Bhutto, 1953-2007

Scarecrow: Did Bush Risk Bhutto To Save Musharraf?

emptywheel: Does this Sound Familiar?

Matthew Yglesias: Don't Cry for Me, Pakistan?

Steve Clemons: Implications of the Zbigniew Brzezinski-Anthony Lake Divide