Pakistan Under Zardari: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

One year ago, I went to a conference attended by government and industrial leaders in Aspen, Colorado. To my surprise, a featured speaker was former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. She was within weeks of returning to Pakistan from exile to seek an unprecedented third term as that nation’s leader. Benazir said exactly what she needed to say to appease the audience and assure them that her intentions were to cooperate with the United States in the war on terror, and that Pakistan would remain a staunch ally. When asked by moderator Charlie Rose if the United States was assisting her in regaining power, she jokingly said that she had hoped that Donald Rumsfeld, who was in the audience, would whisper in President Bush’s ear and suggest he make a phone call to Pervez Musharraf and ask him to step down. She charmed the audience and left everyone with a good feeling about her return to Pakistan in an effort to bring civilian rule to her fledging homeland. Three weeks later, Benazir Bhutto received a resounding welcome in Karachi, Pakistan, and moments later a massive explosion killed over a hundred well-wishers in an assassination attempt. Six weeks later, near Islamabad, shrapnel from a suicide bombing pierced her skull and killed her instantly as she waved to the crowd of supporters through the opened sunroof of her armored SUV. One step forward, two steps backward in Pakistan’s progress. I was assigned as a DEA agent to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, and later the consulate in Karachi, when Benazir Bhutto was prime minister. She, like her father, who was hanged when he held the same office, was loved by the people, but not the established political hacks. The fact that she was a woman didn’t seem to make a difference, even in this Muslim nation. Her biggest baggage while in office was her husband through an arranged marriage, Asif Ali Zardari. Zardari exhibited little interest in politics. He left that to his wife. He was more interested in raising polo horses, foreign travel, women – and earning the reputation of being “Mr. 10 Percent.” He spent 11 years in prison on corruption and murder charges, but was never convicted. Zardari took full advantage of his wife’s position, and demanded 10% of any new building project in Pakistan’s largest city and only seaport, Karachi. He intimidated builders, bankers and businessmen into paying. The nickname did not come out of thin air. But consider where he is. Pakistan has had endemic corruption since its beginnings. Anyone in a position above someone else asks for a bribe – that’s just the way it is there, and in many parts of the world. But Pakistan seems especially corrupt. The old joke is that Pakistan bribed Nigeria to drop out so it could win the contest for “World’s Most Corrupt Nation” still holds true. Uniformed police officers would approach and hit up my teenaged sons for “tea money.” It didn’t matter to them that they were diplomatic passport holders and held diplomatic immunity. They wanted their 50 rupees ($1.10 at the time). Benazir was eventually forced out by the opposition party led by Nawaz Sharif, who proved to be the biggest oaf the country ever experienced. Her administration was accused of corruption, but no one could prove she was corrupt. Pakistan has never had a civilian ruler who has served out their entire consecutive terms in office before being ousted. Benazir knew corruption when she saw it. She replaced the totally corrupt and completely inept Pakistan Narcotics Control Board (PNCB) with a branch of the most respected institution in the country, the army. Her intentions were good, but the newly established Anti-Narcotic Force (ANF) took about six months to realize how lucrative the job was. Before you knew it, the corruption in the ANF rivaled the old PNCB. With Benazir’s widower being installed as the new president, I can predict a wave of increased militant anti-government activity in the Northwest Frontier Provence near the Afghan border, and a unilateral invasion by American troops to seek and destroy militants, Taliban and al Qaeda elements. The Pakistani government won’t, and the civilian government would be placed in jeopardy of being overtaken by Muslim extremists due to the lack of any action or commitment by the new leadership. When challenged, Zardari will imprison opposition leaders and do all the other things tin-horn dictators do to remain in power. Zardari is no friend of the United States, and his focus will be on what’s in it for him instead of what’s good for Pakistan.