Musharraf Warns U.S. Not To Trespass
Pakistani Leader, Seeking Domestic Support, Says U.S. Forces Would "Regret" Entering Country
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A Pakistani policeman and a civilian carry a wounded victim in the aftermath of a suicide bomb explosion Thursday Jan. 10, 2008, in Lahore, Pakistan. A suicide bomber blew himself up among police officers outside a court in eastern Pakistan Thursday, killing at least 24 people and wounding dozens of others minutes before a planned anti-government protest, officials and witnesses said. (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudhry)
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Pakistani Police officers carry a wounded colleague in the aftermath of a suicide bomb explosion Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008 in Lahore, Pakistan. (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary)
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In this photo released by Pakistan Press Information Department, President Pervez Musharraf delivers his nationally televised address, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008 in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Pakistan Press Information)
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Photo Essay
Pakistan Court Blast
Attack on police at Lahore High Court was the latest to target the troubled nation's security forces.
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Fast Facts
Pakistan
Learn about the people, economy and history.
Musharraf's remarks in an interview with Singapore's The Straits Times published Friday came as police investigated a suicide attack a day earlier in the eastern city of Lahore that killed 24 people, adding to pressures on the former general as he struggles to stay in office eight years after seizing power in military coup.
Pakistan is under growing U.S. pressure to crack down on militants in its tribal regions close to the Afghan border.
The rugged area has long been considered a likely hiding place for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, as well as an operating ground for Taliban militants planning attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan.
The New York Times reported last week that Washington was considering expanding the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency and the military to peruse aggressive covert operations within the tribal regions. Several U.S. presidential candidates have also hinted they would support unilateral action in the area.
Musharraf told the Straits Times that U.S. troops would "certainly" be considered invaders if they set foot in the tribal regions. A full transcript of the interview was published on the paper's Web site.
"If they come without our permission, that's against the sovereignty of Pakistan. I challenge anybody coming into our mountains," he said in the interview in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. "They would regret that day."
Musharraf is also under gathering domestic political pressure.
The party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and the other main opposition grouping are predicted to make gains in the Feb. 18 polls. They have vowed to oust Musharraf if they emerge as winners. Musharraf is seen as vulnerable to impeachment over his decision to fire Supreme Court judges and suspend the constitution last year.
"If that (impeachment) happens, let me assure that I'd be leaving office before they would do anything. If they won with this kind of majority and they formed a government that had the intention of doing this, I wouldn't like to stick around," he said. "I would like to quit the scene."
"With such bloody violence taking place in Pakistan, there must be questions on security conditions as this country heads towards elections," one Western diplomat told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari on condition of anonymity.
If they come without our permission... They would regret that day.
Pakistani President Pervez MusharrafAt least 20 suicide bombers have struck in the past three months, killing 400 people, many of them from the security forces - the most intense period of terror strikes here since Pakistan allied with the U.S. in its war against al Qaeda and other extremist groups in 2001.
Lahore police chief investigator Tasaddaq Hussain said the mutilated head of the suicide bomber had been recovered and would be reconstructed for identification. The bomber's other body parts were being examined by forensic experts to extract DNA, he said.
"This is an act of terrorism and militants are to be blamed for it," he said Friday.
Police said the attacker got into the midst of some 70 officers in riot gear and detonated explosives on his body, spewing shrapnel in a blast that sprawled mangled bodies in pools of blood. All but three of the dead were police officers.
"There was a huge bang," said Munrian Bibi, 60, a school cleaner caught in the blast as she headed home from work. "I saw people falling on ground crying for help. I don't know what saved my life from that hell," she said in a hospital where she was treated for leg wounds.
There was no claim of responsibility. The government has blamed previous attacks on Islamic radicals allied with al Qaeda and the Taliban sheltering in the tribal regions along the Afghan border.
Musharraf blamed the same militants for the Dec. 27 gun and suicide bomb attack that killed Bhutto, a secular former prime minister who had repeatedly pledged to battle Islamic extremism in this country of 160 million people.
Bhutto's supporters have questioned whether elements within the government may have had a role in the opposition leader's slaying after a campaign rally, and are demanding an independent U.N. investigation. To allay critics, Musharraf last week invited British police to help investigate the attack.
© MVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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See all 69 CommentsThat''s our wacky little dictator of Pakistan for you!
Heckuva'' job, Pervie!
When the British ruled, they could not subdue them either. When they needed a railroad to go through those areas, they could not send soldiers to enforce any laws. They had to resort to bribery ONLY, and all were happy with that arrangement.
The idea of sending American military personnel there without knowledge of Pushto and Urdu can only come from an absolutely ignorant President devoid of any knowledge of those people.
A bomb-runaway-hide military slaughtering civilians will have its obvious consequences. The lame duck who says he does not read, needs to start with the reasons American Embassy personnel were held hostage for 400+ days in a neighbouring country.
One of the tenets of their culture is "An eye for an eye."
I was stationed there in the USAF. We were ordered by the AmEmbassy to declare we were Canadians, NOT Americans if captured downtown.
Dictator Pervez Musharraf, warning America to stay out of Pakistan
And so finally.
The truth.
Musharraf is a simple despot, just like Bush. But was able to take advantage of Bush''s extremely limited intellect to get billions of dollars, and years of unequivocal support, for his brutal tyranny.
But is now threatening American troops if they dare trespass upon his kingdom, no matter what clandestine "agreement" he and his once best buddy Bush had.
Someone once most wisely observed that there is no honor amongst thieves.
I would also add amongst despots.
ST
"When liberty is abandoned it is no longer secure."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
Posted by SearingTruth at 02:28 AM : Jan 11, 2008
~~~~~~~~~
As I mentioned in my post below, neither Musharraf nor any American has any control over those areas.
We had a few days off from our jobs each time the people were upset at America. Files full of papers were dumped all over the streets from the US Information Agency, Pan American World Airways, and anything American that they chose to plunder.
I was once being driven in an Embassy vehicle, surrounded by rioters on all streets, breaking all they could. My driver stopped and removed the CD plates (Corps Diplomatique) from the vehicle and we went on home through the mobs.
They do sever heads if Kaafrs (infidels.)
He is mountaineer Greg Mortensen whose life was saved when he gave up attempting to summit K2 (28,250 ft) in the Karakoram mountains.
His book, Three Cups of Tea, a NY Times best seller, is one of the finest books I have ever read. In the book, he describes how he attained that status. But the amazing thing is the Third Cup of Tea. When you get that third cup, it means more than the second cup (honored friend). You become family, and for family, they do ANYTHING, including give up their lives.
That was when I understood about suicide bombers. Kill one, and like Hydra, you have brothers and cousins lying in wait for you.
Vet1971
Oh I understand that fellow patriot. Which is the spear in the heart of the lunacy of cooperating with Dictator Musharraf in the first place.
And in any case history has shown us that America must never support tyranny, because it always has, and always will, come back to haunt and kill us.
But the most important thing to recognize is that it wasn''t the leaders or members of the tribal regions that threatened America in this article, it was the despot Musharraf himself.
And he simply threatened us because the jig is up, and he''s no longer going to even pretend that he''s a "temporary dictator just there to restore democracy".
He''s decided that he has the nukes, and despite all of Bush''s assurances that they were under America''s control of course Musharraf has always controlled them, and will never give them up.
And therefore he can now be honest about his dictatorship.
In fact, it''s simply tyranny 101. Nothing new at all.
Except that America now regularly advocates and supports it.
ST
"We courted evil while condemning it, suffering its fate."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
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Well lets start taking all the money we give to this terrorist and pay the FBI phone bills so that our government can illegally wiretap us.
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot"
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
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Posted by FloydZepp at 06:16 AM : Jan 11, 2008"
Yep, and they''ve BEATEN your boys in the past two presidential elections! Dems and Liberal lemmings are such LOSERS!
Your a real dumbarse for leaving such an irresistable opening!
HA HA HA HA HA!!!
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Posted by Vet1971 at 02:46 AM : Jan 11, 2008"
That''s why you carpet bomb the neighborhood they came from. Get ALL the rats in once fell swoop!. But, innocents might be killed, you say. Tough! I say.
If it is a choice between me or them, well I vote ME!
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
Support dictators huh? Here''s your history lesson for the day:
Jimmy (peanut) Carter:
1. Omar al-Bashar of Sudan, has used Jimmy Carter to help him with several agreements between Sudan and its neighbors including Egypt and Uganda. But, al-Bashar is no gentleman, and Darfur is his second genocide.
2. Kim Jung Il of North Korea can thank Jimmy Carter for brokering the nuclear arms agreement in 1994 that helped this madman acquire nuclear weapons.
3. Than Shwe, Burma (Myanmar). Jimmy Carter called jailed fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi a "heroic woman" in a 2003 speech. Aung San Suu Kyi is the only Nobel Peace Laureate yet to claim her prize in Norway
4. Robert Mugabe to the White House in 1980.
5. Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan. Jimmy Carter compares the US to Uzbekista.
Want me to continue? Because there is a LOT more.
Mr Carter, a REAL Dictator lover there.
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Posted by ontheleft at 03:59 AM : Jan 11, 2008"
We''ve been knee deep in there since WW2. Or are you a lemming lapdog of this report from the Carter administration?:
"When Iranian revolutionaries entered the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979 and seized 52 Americans, President Jimmy Carter dismissed reminders of America''s long intervention in Iran as "ancient history." Carter''s point was not merely that previous U.S. policy could not excuse the hostage taking. His adjective also implied that there was nothing of value to be learned from that history. In his view, dredging up old matters was more than unhelpful; it was also dangerous, presumably because it could only serve the interests of America''s adversaries. Thus, to raise historical issues was at least unpatriotic and maybe worse."
Dumbarse, never listened in history class, Liberal lemming.
If it is a choice between me or them, well I vote ME!"
DemWatcher
Ummm ....
Adolph Hitler would agree with you 100%
My God.
But in any case it has never in human history, even once, worked.
ST
"And so then we fished every last fish from the sea."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
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Posted by DemWatcher at 07:01 AM : Jan 11, 2008
+ report abuse
You Nazi''s have been in charge for all this time and still all you can do is spew the same tired old lines... the "lib''s" did it. It''s the "lib''s" fault! I know your not real smart how could you be to vote for people like Larry Craig but come on! We have a President who is an absolute and complete failure and the "lib''s" are NOT at fault!!
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Posted by skyk at 07:32 AM : Jan 11, 2008
+ report abuse
Well said Bro! Semper Fi!
If it is a choice between me or them, well I vote ME!
Posted by DemWatcher at 06:50 AM : Jan 11, 2008
+ report abuse
Wow!! Are you a Skin Head? I ask this because I am a member of the Southern Poverty Law Center and this is the method they propose to "solve" all our problems. Of course they do not address the fall out such and event would have for us World Wide and concidering the hatred world wide for you fascist today, that would NOT be a good thing. You do realize that this cat is the ONLY ally Sir Lies-A-Lot has don''t you? You should also, understand that those we are after are there because Sir Lies-A-Lot allowed them to get off the hook while he and his rich pals in Big Oil went off to take over Iraq. Just thought I should point those things out to you. I know you lack the intelligence to understand what I said but maybe someone reading your rants will! Sieg Heil Bush!! COME ON NOW! Let me hear YA!! SIEG HEIL BUSH!! Good little bootlicker!!
Posted by DemWatcher
The part you don''t see is that it is not between them and you, but Bush and his puppet co conspirators have said that is what the choice is, and naturally after blatantly lying about everything else, you still believe him.
Rather than think that you are actually that gullible, It is easier to think that you advocate mass slaughter, because you enjoy the thought of causing it, needing no reason, but compelled to hide your perversion, behind lying rhetoric.
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Posted by tbweb at 08:15 AM : Jan 11, 2008
+ report abuse
Didn''t Bush PROMISE us that he would NOT allow such things to stand in the way of getting those responsible for the attack on this nation. Oh well! Guess I can just add that LIE to the LONG LONG list of lies told by Bush!
Musharraf has been known worldwide to be a Bushpuppet ever since the CIA put him into power. He is only saying what Bush tells him to say, this is the excuse Bush will use for not looking in the mountains of Pakistan for OBL.
Anyone should now see clearly that OBL and Al Qaeda are still CIA puppets, and willingly provide the excuses for Bush''s illegal activities. The timings of their TV appearances all to closely match Bush wanting to do something else illegal, (not to forget three days before the last election, when all the world press had Kerry ahead, barring a new threat from OBL) now Bush will be saying that Pakistan won''t let him go after OBL.
This is a cruel joke, since when has the objections of a head of state kept Bush from invading anyone?
In the past, Bush said he would seek terrorists in any country which provided safe havens for them. Yesterday he uses the "safe haven" point again for terrorists in Palestine.
It appears Bush uses talking points for his legacy but does not follow through to support our troops who lost their lives for "his" War on Terror.
Surely, surely someone with a little sense and experience will stop that wrong headed move. shrub has made his bed with Musharriff and now he must lie in it. Way too late to be changing bed partners now.
The re-surgence of al-Queda in the Pakistand-Afgan borders is directly due to the mishandling of the Afganistan invasion and search for Bin Laden. It is too late now to try and change that outcome.
If invaded, the whole of Pakistan could unravel leaving the country in chaos and the extremists in control.
I wish Congress would grow a spine. Then we could impeach this moron and get on with running our country in a "reality-based" world.
They would oust us but they can''t oust the terrorists? The next American tax dollar I send this monkey, I want to light on fire and stick up his @ss.
They would oust us but they can''''t oust the terrorists? The next American tax dollar I send this monkey, I want to light on fire and stick up his @ss.
Posted by bizzzz at 12:16 PM : Jan 11, 2008
THIS IS THE PROBLEM.. THE U.S. GOVERMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES STILL DON''T GET IT .. ALL THEY BELONG TO THE STAR WARS MOVIES OR SOMETHING OR THEIR POLICIES CAME FROM DISNEYLAND ..
THE TERM TERRORIST IS A TERM INVENTED BY SOMEONES IS NOT ALL THE WORLD TERM.. IS ONLY BY CONVENIENCE .. SAME AS GOOD AND EVIL .. WHOM IS GOOD OR WHOM IS EVIL.. *** THAT ..
boss were pressed to facter in Hamas controling
half of the country with their promising statehood
for Palestine,. . .
Bush, Leaned toward and quietly whispered to
an uncertain A-hood:
"Hey with our chances of creating one statehood
for Palestine just go ahead and promise them two
two statehoods for Palestine."
The US has financed their military machine to try to distract and possibly derail the booming economic and democratic success of neighboring India which by itself poses a huge economic threat to US interests. A war in that area would draw in and seriously cripple the progressive Chinese economy as well.(like they bragged about bankrupting the USSR with the Afghanistan war)
The leaders of these countries are not stupid. They have witnessed and experienced the results of US foreign policy for the last 50 years and are not buying into it any more. You can''t arm a dubious ally-of-convenience and expect them to be a lapdog forever. All vicious dogs will eventually bite the hand that feeds them.
President Bush Welcomes President Musharraf to Camp David
President Musharraf is a courageous leader and a friend of the United States
Musharraf told the Straits Times that U.S. troops would "certainly" be considered invaders if they set foot in the tribal regions. A full transcript of the interview was published on the paper''s Web site.
"If they come without our permission, that''s against the sovereignty of Pakistan. I challenge anybody coming into our mountains," he said in the interview in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. "They would regret that day."
Sounds like another Bush buddy gone bad. You know USAMA, SADAM NOW MUSHERIFF
The US has financed their military machine to try to distract and possibly derail the booming economic and democratic success of neighboring India which by itself poses a huge economic threat to US interests. A war in that area would draw in and seriously cripple the progressive Chinese economy as well.(like they bragged about bankrupting the USSR with the Afghanistan war)
The leaders of these countries are not stupid. They have witnessed and experienced the results of US foreign policy for the last 50 years and are not buying into it any more. You can''''t arm a dubious ally-of-convenience and expect them to be a lapdog forever. All vicious dogs will eventually bite the hand that feeds them.
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Posted by logicanada at 01:21 PM : Jan 11, 2008
Now we know why the lib Cretchen lost his job. Hey Canadian lib remember if you need a major operation your money is welcome here.
Just had major surgery right here at home, thanks. That''s why I have time to sit here and reply to your empty comments. Didn''t cost me a penny.
Apparently health care in YOUR country is a major election issue, however. (seems there are a lot of MAJOR issues facing your country right now, all prefaced by ''change''.
Why is that?
Why fix something that isn''t broken?
Do you have a sensible reply to the post, or just more spew.
Go Obama!
CONGRESS BETTER STOP ALL CHECKS GOING INTO HIS COUNTRY.
OUR TAX DOLLARS IN THE AMOUMT OF 100 MILLION SO FAR..AND WE STILL GIVE HIM 10 MILLION AS OF RIGHT NOW..
OK CONGRESS WHATS UP WITH THAT..............
What did Bush call his rich supporters?
''My base''.
Bin Laden is real enough. al Quaida is a made-up boogeyman meant to justify 911 and to keep up the politics of fear.
"WE MUST GO AFTER TERRORISTS WHEREVER THEY LIVE.WITH OR WITHOUT OUR ALLIES.THEY BROUGHT THIER WAR TO US,NOW WE BRING IT TO THEM AND FINISH THEM OFF."
That sure is a nice well thought out comment. Maybe we should invade them and immediately divvy up their hydrocarbon assets, and bring democracy to them like we have so successfully done in Iraq. Wouldn''t that be great? Our military and economy can sure support another great armchair fought war on terrorism, sprinkling freedom all over the citizens of yet another nation battling with it''s own internal problems. We don''t create hate for ourselves when we try and police the world''s politics or oil deposits. That is a silly idea. Invade Pakistan in the name of Jesus!
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