Peace and Justice Post

The Boston Globe, March 1, 2008

By Shuja Nawaz

AFTER THE recent elections in Pakistan that were marked by their relative peace and the return of the two leading parties that dominated the scene before General Pervez Musharraf’s coup in 1999, some commentators in the United States fear that a civilian government and a more assertive parliament will be less willing to fight America’s “war on terror” than Musharraf. They are also concerned that the new government might be affected by the generally anti-US sentiment that appears to have gained ground in Pakistan. Such views are based on false assumptions and are likely to confuse Pakistanis into thinking that elements in the United States prefer to deal with autocrats rather than popularly elected governments. The people of Pakistan seem to have more confidence in the changes that have occurred than their erstwhile friends in the United States. While the noise of parliamentary democracy rises in Pakistan, hope is also on the rise.

Continued . . .

Telegraph, UK, March 1, 2008

By Tim Butcher

America deployed a warship off the coast of Lebanon yesterday prompting anger from Iran-backed Hizbollah and surprise from the pro-Washington Lebanese prime minister.

Fouad Saniora said that he had not requested the display of naval power.

The USS Cole, a guided missile destroyer that was almost sunk by al-Qa’eda in a terrorist attack off Yemen eight years ago, was steaming in international waters just off the Lebanese coast.

An unnamed US military source said the deployment was meant as “a show of support for regional stability” because of Washington’s concern about the political crisis in Lebanon.

Squabbling between the pro-Syrian and anti-Syrian factions has paralysed Lebanese politics for months, leaving the country unable to pass any basic legislation, including the national budget, or chose a head of state or president.

Members of Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shia movement supported and financed by Teheran, were critical of the move.

“This decision proves it’s the United States which is interfering in Lebanese affairs and that this interference has taken on a military slant,” Hussein Hajj Hassan, a Hizbollah MP, said.