Powerful Islamic parties voiced fury on Friday at President Pervez Musharrafâs conditional pledge to send Pakistani troops to Iraq on the request of the United States, adding to opposition from lawyers and secular parties.
| But then, they're usually voicing fury over something, so what else is new? |
Gen Musharraf, during this weekâs visit to the US, reiterated that he supported âin principleâ sending Pakistani troops to join a post-war peacekeeping force, provided it was under the auspices of the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Conference or the Gulf Cooperation Council.
| "We lack the sufficient number and size of testicles to support Our Friend and Ally⢠on our own..." |
President George W Bush had personally conveyed the request to his Pakistani counterpart during their talks at his private Camp David retreat on Tuesday, Mr Musharraf told Americaâs ABC television channel. âThis is an alarming situation,â Prof Khurshid Ahmad, a federal Senator from the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) party, said. âIt seems that America is trying to press Pakistan to send its forces to Iraq,â he said in a statement.
| I think we just did that to get a rise out of the JI turbans... |
The JIâs Ahmad accused the US and Britain, whose forces are suffering almost daily fatal attacks in the post-war Iraq, of âtrying to draw in other countries to face the consequences of their illegal occupation... America has not brought freedom or security to Iraq. It is [a] simple occupation and Pakistan cannot and must not be a party to it.â Political commentators and other opposition parties were scathing of the potential deployment to Iraq, saying they would be equal to âmercenariesâ cleaning up after the US. âWe will not allow the Pakistani army to become mercenaries. We oppose the idea of sending army troops to Iraq,â Tehmina Daultana of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz told a press conference.
| Good. We wouldn't want an army we might have to fight someday to actually have any combat experience... |
Analyst Muhammad Afzal Niazi said Pakistan was being âsucked into the quagmires of both Afghanistan and Iraq... From a national army, the Pakistan army is to become a US-surrogate mercenary force.â |