Most Dangerous Trouble Spot In The World Update

by dday

So Joe Biden, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are headed to Pakistan to observe Monday’s elections. Surely the dictator who suspended the Constitution long enough to throw out the entire judiciary will now ensure that the polls are free of fraud and vote tampering. After all, THREE US Senators are going to monitor a country of 164 million!

The first thing that Biden and Kerry and Hagel might want to do is schedule a meeting with Human Rights Watch:

A prominent U.S.-based human rights group Friday released what it said was a recording of Pakistan’s attorney general acknowledging that next week’s national elections would be “massively” rigged.

Human Rights Watch said a journalist made the recording during a telephone interview with Attorney General Malik Qayyum when Qayyum took a second call without disconnecting the first, allowing his end of the second conversation to be overheard and recorded.

In the recording, Qayyum, Pakistan’s top legal officer, can be heard advising the caller to accept a ticket he is being offered by an unidentified political party for a seat, Human Rights Watch said.

“They will massively rig to get their own people to win,” Qayyum said, according to a transcript released by Human Rights Watch. “If you get a ticket from these guys, take it.”

I mean, it is physical evidence, and all. And certainly there’s motive; the opposition party has vowed to impeach Musharraf if they get into power. Do you really think a dictator would let that happen?

Another thing the Senators should do is schedule their outbound flight now. Because it might be tough to get out of Dodge after the election:

Awan’s comments came a day after Musharraf warned his opponents not to immediately claim fraud and stage demonstrations after the vote.

Another opposition party, headed by ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, rejected Musharraf’s warning, saying it would stage nationwide protests if it believes the election was manipulated.

“We know Musharraf wants to rig the elections,” said Sadiq ul-Farooq, a senior member of Sharif’s party. “If he did it, we will force him to quit through street protests.”

Monday should be fun. If your idea of fun is millions pouring onto the streets in riots and martial law and an unstable nation with a significant Islamist population and nuclear weapons.

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