Will he go? | A Housewife's Weblog

Musharraf will leave office peaceably – Biden Special Correspondent NEW YORK – A key U.S. senator said Monday that President Pervez Musharraf gave the congressional delegation that he led to Pakistan an impression that he would step back from the exercise of the kind of power he has exercised and eventually leave the office peaceably. “I think he will go gently into the good night,” Joseph Biden told Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank, when asked to elaborate his call for the embattled president to make a “graceful exit.” Biden, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he and his delegation members — John Kerry and Chick Hagel — met the president a day after the election in which the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim Leagu-Q was defeated. “He (the president) walked in and said, `Look, the results are in. I lost’,” and that he was prepared to be a transition figure, Biden said. The senator said he does not believe that the PPP and PML-N who were in the process of forming a new government would try to impeach the Musharraf. Replying to question about the Bush administration’s persistent support to Musharraf and an ambivalent attitude towards the elected political leaders, Biden called for supporting the democratic forces in Pakistan. In this regard, he said his delegation would take up the matter with President George W. Bush. He said the new government should not only be supported but also awarded a “democracy dividend.” Speaking to a distinguished gathering of diplomats, academics,, business leaders and officials, Biden said Washington must triple its non-military assistance to Pakistan and sustain it for a decade focusing on schools, roads and clinics. Currently the United States gives Pakistan $500 million in non-military aid per year. Under Senator Biden’s proposal that figure would jump to $1.5 billion. Sen. Biden said the new aid should be designed to jump-start progress, help the country develop the it’s northwest provinces and demand transparency and accountability in the military aid provided. He also called for training Pakistani troops in counter-insurgency operations. “We don’t need to train the whole army– just one brigade would do.” He said Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the new army chief, was prepared to making changes in the forces’ training patterns. “If we do all this, we can demonstrate to the people of Pakistan that our is a partnership of mutual conviction — not American convenience, that we care about their needs and progress not jut our interest,” he said FATE OF PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN LINKED In his speech, he also urged the United States to focus on securing and rebuilding Afghanistan because if it fails then neighbouring Pakistan could follow. Biden said more troops are needed in Afghanistan and called for greater focus on basics like roads and power plus giving the military cash for quick projects like digging wells. He also urged a rebuilding plan similar to the Marshall Plan under which the United States aided Europe’s shattered economies after World War Two. “Afghanistan’s fate and Pakistan’s future are joined and America’s security is tied to both,” Biden said. “If Afghanistan fails, Pakistan could follow, because extremists will set their sights on the bigger prize to the east.” He said that if the United States makes Afghanistan its priority, then so will its allies. “It seems time for NATO to realize that they must get fully in the fight. If Afghanistan falls, I am not sure how far behind NATO will be,” he said. “If America does more, so will our allies.” Biden said Pakistan’s cooperation in the fight against extremism was also critical to the success of Afghanistan, describing the border between the two countries as the “freeway for extremists”. NATO must be “fully in the fight” in Afghanistan – nothing less than the future of the alliance is at stake, he said. “Many of our NATO allies thought they were signing up for a peacekeeping mission, not counter-insurgency operations,” said Biden. “Many are fighting with incredible bravery in the south. But the so-called “national caveats” are making a mockery of NATO – and the notion of a unified mission.” Each nation that contributes troops operates under so-called national caveats that limit what its troops can do. Nearly seven years after a U.S.-led invasion defeated the Taliban regime, NATO has about 42,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, 14,000 of whom are American. Biden, who also traveled to Afghanistan, said the stakes are as high as they’ve ever been for the future of those nations. “Afghanistan must never again become a safe haven for al-Qaeda.” He called for a huge boost in the funds earmarked for the development of Afghanistan, reminding what experts say — “the Taliban begin where roads end”. “We have spent on Afghanistan’s reconstruction in six years what we spend every three weeks on military operations in Iraq,” he said. “How do you spell hope in Dari and Pashtu? A-S-P-H-A-L-T.”

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