Pakistan
President Pervez Musharraf paid a visit to Washington, D.C. over the weekend,
where he met with U.S. President George W. Bush, and more notably, gave a series
of tantalizing interviews to the capital’s press corps.
During a closed door meeting, Bush and Musharraf discussed the war on terror, trade between their two countries, and the Palestine-Israel conflict. In a joint press conference where Bush did most of the talking, he praised his Pakistani counterpart, saying, “our relationships are good, they’re strong, and they will remain that way.”
In turn, Musharraf congratulated Bush on his victory in last month’s elections. “All that I would like to say, that I’ve come here basically to congratulate the President very sincerely, with all my sincerity, for having won the elections,” he said.
The lovefest between the two men ended shortly after the brief photo opportunity. Free of the White House muzzle, Musharraf sounded off on a number of topics in subsequent interviews with various media outlets:
| Search for Osama Bin Laden: | “He is alive, but more than that, where he is, no…we don’t know where he is.” — Washington Post/Yahoo! |
| India and Kashmir: | “I’m very optimistic of the future.” — AFP/Yahoo! |
| U.S. request for access to nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan: | “It shows a lack of trust.” — Washington Post/Yahoo! |
| World’s safety after Iraq invasion: | “I think it’s less safe, certainly…we have landed ourselves in more problems.” — Wolf Blitzer/CNN |
| Purchase of U.S. F-16 fighter jets: | “We discussed the F-16 issue…that is all I would like to say.” — AFP/Yahoo! |
| Timetable for democratic elections in Pakistan: | (Crickets chirping) |
The Daily Show had a great clip last night of Musharaff being interviewed by Wolf Blitzer where he made the statement that Dubya’s invasion of Iraq was a “mistake”. A MISTAKE!! Cut to Jon Stewart saying, he can’t say that can he? Cut to Wolf in a later segment that day where he reports that a Paksitani official clarified that Musharraff didnt really mean “mistake”.
Ah yes, first Karzai now Pervez ‘the Perv” Musharaff”.
NeverforgetGodBlessAmericaUnitedWeStand!
the crickets will chirp forever
So… I’m trying to catch up on my SM, and EVERY. SINGLE. POST has a “pithy” comment by “Anonymous.” How freakin’ annoying! Dude – say something if you’re going to bother to post REPEATEDLY.
Fear not Deepa. As soon as we consult our tech support in Bombay we will consider banning “Anonymous.”
Abhi- I second the ban.
is Manish the only one of you crazy people who has access to the comments posting? If the rest of you need to know how to figure out how to ban him, email me. You know how.
cause I third the motion and how. Anonymous made me late for work this morning.