The Daily Show guest September 26---the President of Pakistan

[Toriko]

For some reason so far unexplained, the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, will be on The Daily Show tomorrow night. I'm really curious how they arranged it and if he knows what it is he is doing. Maybe he'll tell us more on how the US threatened to bomb him if he didn't help with the War on Terror and how Osama is doing with the typhoid.

[james1200]

that can't possibly go well...i thought american humor didn't translate well overseas, not even to england let alone pakistan. it should be fun...i like watching train wrecks.

[Mr.BiGuy]

THis'll be very interesting indeed. I wonder how he'll explain about his country's human rights record ad what he's done in the war on terror as well. I assume he won't have any jokes so it'll be a pretty heavy interview.

[Toriko]

Ok, an explanation: http://pakistaniat.com/2006/09/13/mu...rt-daily-show/

[MattieMich]

Pakistan Prez appears on 'Daily Show'

By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer

Jon Stewart welcomed Pakistan's president to "The Daily Show" on Tuesday with tea and a Twinkie.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's tete-a-tete with Stewart on the Comedy Central program was even more unlikely than the much-anticipated meeting between Musharraf, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Bush, planned for Wednesday.

As a gesture mirroring Pakistani hospitality, Stewart welcomed Musharraf with a cup of jasmine green tea, and offered the more American delicacy of a Twinkie. Musharraf chuckled and thanked the host, though Stewart promptly changed the subject.

"Where's Osama bin Laden?" he asked suddenly.

"I don't know," replied Musharraf. "You know where he is? You lead on, we'll follow you."

Musharraf's appearance on "The Daily Show," which was taped late Tuesday and was to air Tuesday evening, was the first time a sitting head of state appeared on the program, a show spokesman said. The comedy show, though, has frequently drawn major political figures, including former President Clinton last week.

The Pakistan president, who is on tour of the U.S., appeared on the program to promote his new memoir, "In the Line of Fire." The book has drawn headlines for, among other things, the Pakistan president's claim that after the Sept. 11 attacks he had no choice but to support the U.S. led war on terror groups or face an American "onslaught."

On balancing the wishes of the U.S. and Pakistan, which is largely anti-American, Musharraf told Stewart: "I've had to learn the art of tightrope-walking many times, and I think I've become quite an expert of that."

Stewart, himself, has also proven deft at balancing both humor and seriousness on "The Daily Show." At one point, he asked Musharraf if he had omitted any mention of the war in Iraq in his memoir because it has "gone so well."

Musharraf again laughed, but said: "It has led certainly to more extremism and terrorism around the world."

To conclude the interview, Stewart put Musharraf on the "Seat of Heat," a new feature for the program in which red lights flash around the studio and the guest is asked a final question.

"George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden — be truthful — who would win a popular vote in Pakistan?" asked Stewart.

"I think they'll both lose miserably," replied Musharraf, an answer met with raucous laughter by the "Daily Show" audience.

Original article

[Rand]

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/as...harraf.terror/

(CNN) -- The war in Iraq has not made the world safer from terror, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has told CNN, saying he stands by statements on the subject he makes in his new book, "In the Line of Fire."

In the book, Musharraf -- a key ally who is often portrayed as being in complete agreement with U.S. President George W. Bush on the war on terror and other issues -- writes he never supported the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

"I stand by it, absolutely," Musharraf told CNN's "The Situation Room." Asked whether he disagreed with Bush, he said, "I've stated whatever I had to ... it [the war] has made the world a more dangerous place."

He also addressed allegations that Pakistan was a less-than-enthusiastic recruit into the war on terror and that former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told a Pakistani official that the United States would bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" if it did not cooperate with Washington after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Armitage has denied making the threat. He told CNN he gave Pakistan a tough message, telling the Muslim nation it was either "with us or against us."

"I have written whatever I heard, and my intelligence director did say that," Musharraf told CNN. "I would leave it at that. He didn't contact me. He didn't say that to me."

Whether the threat was made, Musharraf said he agreed to cooperate in the war on terror in the interests of Pakistan.

"The first thing that came to my mind was Pakistan, Pakistani interest, Pakistan security," Musharraf said.

"So as far as Pakistan interest is concerned, we ourselves are victims of terrorism and we ourselves are against al Qaeda or any form of terrorism related to [the] Taliban. ... However, we took into account, certainly, that we are a nuclear state. Destabilizing a nuclear state would certainly cause a lot of upheaval in the world."

Musharraf would not be drawn into a debate over Bush's comments last week to CNN that he would send U.S. forces into Pakistan if he had credible information that Osama bin Laden was there, instead of letting Pakistan handle the situation itself.

"It's a very sensitive issue," he said. "We should not be discussing how and who is to deliver the blow, but whenever we locate him, we have to deal with him. And let's leave it at that and let's not get into the sensitivities of who and how it will be done."

Musharraf bristled when asked why the United States could operate in neighboring Afghanistan but not Pakistan.

"Please don't compare Pakistan with Afghanistan," he said.

"Pakistan is a very, very stable country. We have a strong government. We have a strong military. We have a strong intelligence system, and everything in Afghanistan has broken down. ... We don't want our sovereignty to be violated, whereas in Afghanistan, there was an issue of terrorism in Afghanistan after 9/11 and law and order was broken down."

Musharraf also was critical of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who he said is "turning a blind eye like an ostrich" to the situational realities in his country and pointing the finger at Pakistan. (Bush downplays tensions)

He denied that a deal worked out with tribal leaders along the Afghan-Pakistan border offered amnesty to al Qaeda and the Taliban, as critics had claimed.

Asked whether he would be interested in appearing alongside Karzai on a future episode of "The Situation Room," Musharraf said there would need to be "the proper atmosphere and proper attitude."

"There needs to be harmony in Afghanistan, Pakistan and [the] allied forces, especially the United States," he said. "... I think, at the moment, there is total misunderstanding of the environment by Afghanistan and Karzai. I know Karzai knows the environment, but he is denying the realities."

[Homoaffectional]

I wonder how he'll explain about his country's human rights record ad

He'll start by explaining how much worse it would be if he weren't there to keep the worst extremists from running totally amuck. He's actually done a lot to try to tell the Islamic extremists that he can't abide by all the things they want.

If only Bush and the Republicans could do the same over here...

[iman]

Musharraf is on the Book Tour, he's probably dieing to get on Oprah. It is rather refreshing to see a dictator trying so hard to sell his book when most people in his position would just rob the treasury. Maybe he's honest?

What is interesting about Mushararaf, vis a vis the Bush administration is that Bush has always been at such pains to say that he (Bush) believes that Muslims are capable of democratic rule and has pledged to end tyranny in the Muslim world. Yet the only friends that the West has in the Muslim world are the dictators. Elections in Iran, Palestine, and Iraq (?) have produced anti-western governments.

[Homoaffectional]

It is rather refreshing to see a dictator trying so hard to sell his

It's equally as refreshing to see a dictator like Bush sell his talking points and policies...

[unclaimedblessing]

I thought he was pretty much naturally "charming" for a politician.
His ass is a lot closer to the fire than Dubya's. There have been assassination attempts by different factions. More power for the Taliban and/or al Qaeda in his country would do him more harm than us. But he obviously resents being a lap dog for the US and speaks out about it, who wouldn't?.
Perhaps he's as big a liar as many of our politicians, but personally, I didn't pick up on that vibe.

[Toriko]

Pakistan is not a superpower like the US and has to take its continued existence in mind regarding domestic and foreign policies---as a nuclear state and an ally losing Musharraf and Pakistan would be detrimental. All Bush has done is risk his legacy; Musharraf has had his life on the line twice. The current foreign policy of this administration, however, is going dangerously close down such a wrong path since, according to the Newsweek mentioned in another thread, US spending in Afghanistan is nothing like Iraq and we are losing both.

It is time to undo the tax cuts and fully commit to Afghanistan and Iraq; from neither of which should we cut our losses and run.

Even though I've seen the interview, if anyone can find it anywhere please post it here. Otherwise I'll look forward again whenever I get back home tonight.

[Txgoodoldboy]

I was impressed, and I didn't think I would be. He was funny and informative. He gave very diplomatic answers. But he didn't sound like a stooge. I didn't think he would have been able to pull it off, but he did.

I hate the way he took power in his country.

He made more sense than Bush, but that isn't hard to do.

[Toriko]

More on Musharraf's book promotion, this from CNN International: http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchiv...rraf_book.html

[snapcat]

Well, is there a You Tube video of the interview yet?

[Toriko]

Sorry, forgot to check again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvbGY8jleaE

[cowpoke212]

Musharraf is more well spoken than our own President . sigh

[snapcat]

Sorry, forgot to check again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvbGY8jleaE

Thanks for the link!

That was something! The President of Pakistan on the Daily Show! I bet the ratings on Comedy Central went through the roof!

[CaptainJohn]

I saw it and was really impressed. He seemed sincere, was well spoken, intelligent, and credible. Such a shame I can't say the same things about the leader of our country. Think we could swap?

[Toriko]

If anyone is curious Jon Stewart was on David Letterman and, after discussing family and Dubya, Letterman asked him about Musharraf. It's interesting, even though Stewart joked around about it without actually answering Letterman's question. Hm, perhaps Stewart could run for government...

http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchiv...tewart_on.html

[TongueTied]

Can anyone explain to me why Pakistan is considered our ally? I know during the cold war India was considered close to the Soviet Union so automatically we sided up with Pakistan, but that era is over.

Pakistan produces more terrorists than almost any other country in the world. The dictator Zia ul-haq used the radical Islamists to bolster his rule, introducing sharia law. This started the long process of Islamification of most aspects of Pakistani culture. Pakistan has thousands of madrasas (Islamic schools) that take in illiterate peasants (the majority of Pakistan's population) and indoctrinate them into being militant jihadis. The Pakistanis for the most part hate and despise the west.

Musharraf tolerates militant groups operating on Pakistani territory. Most major al-Qaeda figures that have been captured were captured in Pakistan. Mullah Omar and bin-Laden are likely in Pakistan. If the Pakistani government really wanted to, they could be found. Last but not least, the Pakistani government allowed Khan, the nuclear scientist, to sell nuclear technology to North Korea, Libya, and any other country (or group) that could pay in cold hard cash.

We should call Pakistan's bluff and consider them the enemy they are. Then we could send in our special forces to find bin-Laden and Mullah Omar and any other terrorist group they are shielding. Pakistan couldn't do us any more harm then they currently are. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in my opinion are the main enemies of the west, and should be treated accordingly.

[Toriko]

TongueTied, because Musharraf is a friend of the west and it is hoped that through him he can contain the people. Why do you think, after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, that a people that already "hates" us, as you claim, will be beneficial if we occupy? You also ignore the fact that Pakistan can play its nuclear card and invading it will definitely rouse India.

If you want to know why Pakistan isn't helping as much as it can is because Musharraf is being forced to survive---we know terrorism from 9/11 and abstract ghost story-fear tactics by the RNC, he knows insurgency daily; the terrorists we fear live in his country. Bush is a paranoid coward; Musharraf has survived assassination attempts and will most likely face more. Musharraf and Pakistan's commitment appears far greater than the administration's and faces far more risk and danger daily. It is our ongoing failure in Afghanistan and the horrendous mistake of going into and fucking up Iraq that is emboldening those Pakistani terrorists and convincing those that see America as weak and in two losing wars with Islam. I would assume that a loss in Iraq will be excellent propaganda to the terrorists in the War on Terror thereafter and a loss in Afghanistan will be a substantial victory as the terrorists and the Taliban would have their country back, and the ability to say they stood up to the world's superpower and won.

[snapcat]

I heard something on NPR to the effect that Pakistan had helped round up more Al Queda terrorists than any other country.

The trouble as I see it is the semi-autonomous mountain region bordering Afghanistan which is in control by the native "warlords." Mushareff is on a slippery slope with that because that land has been in control by the warlords for so long and is so hard to defeat in a war.