CNN Breaking: Musharraf says he will resign Pakistan presidency

[Cooley Hurd]

Source: CNN

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation Monday after weeks of pressure on him to relinquish power.

President Pervez Musharraf has until now stubbornly resisted pressure to resign.

Musharraf told the nation in a televised address that he would step down -- nearly nine years after he seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

It was unclear what the future would hold for Musharraf.

He quit just as the ruling party was taking steps to remove him in what would have been the first impeachment of a president in Pakistan's history.

Local media reports said Musharraf has been granted "safe passage" out of the country. A spokeswoman for the ruling Pakistan People's Party, which has taken steps to impeach Musharraf, did not rule out that possibility.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/08/18/musharraf.address/index.html

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Bye Mushy!:hi:

[Posteritatis]

1. ! (nt)

[opihimoimoi]

2. Oh Oh Where was RICE??? Bush?? Cheney? Kissinger? Bauer?

Now What???? They got the Fucking BOMB for Gods Sake??? Do we go over there and GET IT???

[freedomnorth]

3. Nawaz Sharif could be next president?

US has certainly lost an ally with Musharraf, perhaps whoever is the next president is not so friendly with the west.

[pettypace]

4. very unfortunate

Musharraf made a grave error sacking the chief justice in March 2007 - ultimately that event led to today's resignation.

[uppityperson]

5. k&r

[uppityperson]

6. glitch

[clear eye]

7. He Still is a Very Powerful General

Given the choice, he seems to believe that being a General is a more powerful position than head of state. Ominous.

[LeftishBrit]

8. Great news! - so long as he doesn't use his military role to cause trouble

[CJCRANE]

9. Note: Musharraff already resigned

from the military in October 07.

On edit: It also seems that Pakistani leaders have a habit of returning from exile several years later so this may not be the last we've seen of him.

[Vinca]

10. I found it amusing he said in his statement he didn't want anything

from anybody. Why would he? He's most likely got billions in American tax dollars stored away in secret bank accounts. It's unlikely he'll need Meals-On-Wheels to survive.

[CJCRANE]

19. $100 million per month to the Pakistan military IIRC n/t

[baldguy]

11. Pakistan can rid themselves of their despot.

We're still stuck with ours.

[No Elephants]

12. I had the same thought.

Come on, Bush, Cheney, you can do it, too! Added bonus: Pelosi's being President, even as a place holder for Obama, might help unify the Party. I love it.

[Alter Ego]

24. At least then she wouldn't have to worry about impeachment anymore.

[Marrah_G]

13. Holy crap - who is taking his place?

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Should be an election within 30 days, according to The Guardian

It is not yet clear who the next president will be. According to the constitution, the chairman of the senate, Mohammadmian Soomro, will become acting president until a new president is elected within 30 days for a five-year term.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/18/pakistan?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

[Marrah_G]

20. Oyyyy- this could either be really good, or horribly bad.

Sort of like our own coming election.

[harun]

23. I think it will be this guy

[orleans]

14. and how will that effect the sales of his book he was hawking on the daily show? n/t

[dysfunctional press]

16. kinda like putin did...?

:shrug:

[gratuitous]

17. Dang, all that effort to steal the election and suppress dissent

And the fucker just resigns! Almost makes the corrupt Bush administration wonder if it was worth it.

And gee whiz, a little investigation, develop a few facts, and popular opinion solidly behind the effort to remove this guy, and hey presto! he resigns. I wonder what might happen if the Democrats in Congress did anything remotely similar to the same thing?

[maddezmom]

18. Rice:US to keep helping Pakistan battle extremists

WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The United States will keep helping Pakistan fight extremism, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday after President Pervez Musharraf, a close U.S. ally in counter-terrorism efforts, said he was quitting.

Rice praised Musharraf for having made the "critical choice" to join the battle against al Qaeda, the Taliban and other extremists.

She said he had been a friend to the United States and one of the world's most committed partners in the war against terror.

"For this, he has our deep gratitude," she said.

"We will continue to work with the Pakistani government and political leaders and urge them to redouble their focus on Pakistan's future and its most urgent needs, including stemming the growth of extremism, addressing food and energy shortages, and improving economic stability," Rice said in a statement.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N18434862.htm

A post-Musharraf Pakistan
The general's resignation means the west must change tack, but elements of Musharraf's vision should be safeguarded
All comments (14)
Frankie Martin guardian.co.uk, Monday August 18 2008 10:30 BST Article historyAfter indicating they were willing to support Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's exit, US officials are now being forced to contemplate something which they had previously viewed as unthinkable: a Pakistan without their trusted general at its helm. Even the Pakistani military signaled they were no longer willing to support Musharraf, leaving the embattled leader with very few friends.

The question everyone was asking was: how long will he last? Tariq Ali, writing on Comment is free last week, gave Musharraf only days in office. Now we know: the General has resigned, rather than face the threat of an unprecedented impeachment from Pakistan's parliament.

This leaves the United States and its western allies like Britain in a difficult position. The US – as it has done so many times – put all its eggs in one basket in the military ruler Musharraf, and perceptions of the US have plummeted along with Musharraf's career. An overwhelming percentage of Pakistanis are opposed to Musharraf's war against militants in Pakistan's tribal areas, seeing it as an unnecessary American intervention that has made Pakistan less secure. The US must understand that in voting to impeach Musharraf, Pakistanis wanted to vote against the US and the way it is conducting its "war on terror" in Pakistan.

Prominent Pakistani government figures, including PML chairman Nawaz Sharif, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, have pushed for a new approach to Pakistan's tribal areas which focuses more on dialogue instead of Musharraf's bombardments which radicalised the tribes and led to a perception that their religion, culture, and ethnicity were under attack.

more:http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/18/pakistan.usa?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RussBLib]

22. Enter the Taliban?

One good thing that Musharraf (and Saddam Hussein) were able to do was to keep the religious factions at bay. When we removed Saddam, the Shia and Sunni went for each others throats. Will a similar thing happen in Pakistan?

Dictators are more able to suppress religious violence, it would seem. Inject "democracy" and you increase the possibility that the religious factions will rise up and tear the place apart.

So, be careful! You might end up with democracy! And religious freaks!

AND Pakistan has NUKES!

[Jack Rabbit]

25. Musical Interlude

The finale from Fidelio by Beethoven. It depicts the moment a political prisoner is freed and the prison forever closed.

Many survivors of Nazi death camps said this was the music they heard in their minds when they were liberated.

I'll post this again when Bush and Cheney fall from power.

Please click here.

Kollo-Janowitz-Popp-Jungwirth-Schelm/Vienna Opera conducted by Leonard Bernstein.