WRVA 1140 AM Richmond - Interview Transcript

7:08 a.m. 11/6/07
HOST: Jimmy Barrett
EXPERT: Ramesh Rao

Jimmy Barrett: 7:08 here on Richmond's Morning News, 1140 WRVA.
One of our allies in the war on terror has been the Pakistani people, or, I guess specifically, the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharaff, who has right now declared a state of emergency in Pakistan. There have been very public battles between police and lawyers and there has been a suspension of constitutional rights all because of concerns over elections and other things. It really has a flavor of chaos to it. I guess we're all a little concerned about what's going to happen next.

Ramesh Rao is chair of the department of communications at Longwood University. He's also an observer of Pakistani affairs and he's here to give us his insight this morning.

Hi Ramesh. How are you?

Ramesh Rao: Good morning.

JB: Good morning. Well, you know, there's been a call for a long time for Pervez Musharaff to give up his role in the army if he's going to remain president and evidently the US is echoing that. Why is that so important?

RR: Well, President Musharaff is one of the most wily leaders of any country that we have seen in modern times.

He basically took power in 1999, ousting Nawaz Sharif, who, in turn, wanted him out of the position that he had as chief of the army staff.

But Musharaff is working against a number of forces. That includes the democratic forces, those Pakistani political patties that want to be back in power. And he has a powerful military, it's like riding a tiger. And there is the military within the military, the inter-services intelligence. So a number of forces are chomping at the bit.

So President Musharaff found it getting difficult in the past few weeks when Benazir Bhutto came back and the Supreme Court justices were just about to say that the presidential elections held on October 6 were not valid. So he found himself in a difficult position.

JB: So if it's not valid, I'll just get rid of them.

RR: Yes.

JB: Real simple right? Would you say, Ramesh, that it would be accurate to call him a military dictator?

RR: Yes, of course. Pakistan, out of the 60 years it has been independent, has for 31 years seen military rule, so it is not anything new for Pakistan. Since 1999 we can say that Pakistan has basically had a military government.

JB: I guess in this case, though, it's a military government that does have a relationship with the United States, one of our few allies in that part of the world.

RR: Well, the relationship between the US and Pakistan is intricate, nuanced, complicated, and I think the US has made a Faustian bargain with Pakistan and we get the good and the bad of it.

JB: That's no doubt true. In some ways we get a lot of cooperation from Musharaff when it comes to terrorism. In other ways we're not getting any cooperation at all. What happens along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan comes to mind, where we're pretty sure we've got some really big-time terrorists who are hiding, including the number one guy we're going after. We all know who that is. The question is, we've never been allowed to go in there to look for him and the Pakistani military itself doesn't want to go in there and look for him either. So I guess the question is, if he was not in power, would we have just as good a relationship when it comes to the war on terror, or could we have potentially a better relationship with somebody else in power?

RR: I would actually guess that we would have a better relationship. General Musharaff has been so clever, one of the most cunning leaders of any military or country that I have seen. He has basically, every time the pressure builds up, he makes one symbolic arrest or has one symbolic event that he has orchestrated and the pressure is lifted. Then he's back to what we would call hunting with the hounds and running with the hare. Pakistan had the closest relationship with the Taliban. It's not under any other person but General Musharaff. In fact, General Musharaff has also been an adventurer. He led Pakistan almost to a full-time war with India in 1999.

We haven't really arrested anyone in terms of the top Al-Qaeda people. Those people, for example, even the people arrested for the murder of Daniel Perl, we don't know where they're being held or how they're being interrogated.

Finally, let's look at Abdul Khan, the father of the Pakistan bomb. American intelligence agencies have not been able to interview Khan because General Musharaff has not allowed us to interview him.

So it is a very sophisticated and clever dance that Musharaff has danced.

JB: On a final note here, do you see him giving up his role with the military?

RR: I doubt he will give it up.

JB: That's his power base, isn't it?

RR: Unless of course he puts a kind of puppet general in his place. But then, again, puppet generals have taken over Pakistan in the past. As I said, he's basically riding a tiger and it's very difficult to get off.

JB: Alright, we'll see what happens. Thank you, Ramesh. Good to talk to you. Appreciate your insight.

RR: Thank you.

JB: That is Ramesh Rao, chair of the department of communications at Longwood University.