[cross-posted at And, yes, I DO take it personally]
golly, gee… evidently, the u.s. has sold considerably MORE military hardware to pakistan than i reported the other day… instead of what we first thought (a mere 40 air-launched and 20 ground-launched Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles and related materials valued at a trifling $180 million), WE NOW HAVE (TAA-DAAAA!)…
eight P3-C Orion aircraft, six Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems and at least 60 Harpoon Missiles worth a total package of $1.3 BILLION. According to sources, the Pentagon has notified the sale of the aircraft and equipment to the US Congress which is expected to approve it within next thirty days.
and how would you like to pay for that, sir…? cash or credit…?
When asked if the payments would be made from the country’s defence budget, an official said the deal would be paid from the US military assistance for Pakistan. According to the official, the eight P-3C aircraft with T-56 engines and associated equipment and services will cost $970 million..
and a partridge in a pear tree… $1.3 BILLION…! GODDAM…! that’s one hell of a lot of nasty shit paid for by – who else? – thee and me…
p.s. i’ve been looking to see if i can find india’s reaction to all this but haven’t turned anything up yet… i’m sure they’ll have something to say soon…
meanwhile, sit back and read about pervez, the principal beneficiary of this massive military aid largesse…
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Pervez Musharraf
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
General Pervez Musharraf (born August 11, 1943, Delhi, India) became de facto Head of Government (using the title Chief Executive and assuming extensive powers) of Pakistan on October 12, 1999 following a bloodless coup d’état. He assumed the office of President of Pakistan (becoming Head of State) on June 20, 2001.
On May 12, 2000 the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Musharraf to hold general elections by October 12, 2002. In an attempt to legitimize his presidency and assure its continuance after the approaching restoration of democracy, he held a referendum on April 30, 2002, which extended his presidential term to a period ending five years after the October elections. However, the referendum was boycotted by the majority of Pakistani political groupings, and voter turnout was 30% or below by most estimates.
General elections were held in October, 2002 and a pro-Musharraf party, the PML-Q, won a plurality of the seats in the Parliament. However, parties opposed to Musharraf effectively paralyzed the National Assembly for over a year. The deadlock ended in December 2003, when Musharraf made a deal with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal party, agreeing to leave the army on December 31, 2004. With that party’s support, pro-Musharraf legislators were able to muster the two-thirds supermajority required to pass the Seventeenth Amendment, which retroactively legalized Musharraf’s 1999 coup and many of his subsequent decrees.
In a vote of confidence on January 1, 2004, Musharraf won 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, was “deemed to be elected” to the office of President until October 2007.
On September 15, 2004, Musharraf backed down from his commitment to step down as Army chief, citing circumstances of national necessity that he felt required him to keep both offices.
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has dubya invited pervez to the ranch yet…?
