Here is the friendly advice I gave Pervez Musharraf when it was clear his days as the benign dictator of Pakistan were numbered:
It would behoove Musharraf to follow the trail so many of his predecessors have blazed into exile. And, frankly, given the numerous assassination attempts on his life, it would be understandable if Musharraf decided that he’d be better off enjoying time in London, spending the millions he skimmed from U.S. military aid, than wasting time in Pakistan chasing Islamic terrorists.
(“D-Day for America’s Most-Favored Dictator…,” The iPINIONS Journal, August 24, 2007)
And sure enough, he heeded my advice. In fact, by all accounts, he was living quite comfortably between London and Dubai and traveling the world to regale anyone who would listen with stories about why Pakistan would be a much more stable and reliable friend of the West today if he were still in charge. Of course, he was always at a loss to explain why Osama bin Laden was invited to set up a rather ostentatious haven in Pakistan, right in a military town no less, while he was still in charge. But I digress….
Imagine my consternation, therefore, when I read that he returned last month to enter the fractious politics of Pakistan, pinning clearly delusional hope on being elected president.
Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf fled court in a speeding vehicle Thursday to avoid arrest after his bail was revoked in a case involving his decision to fire senior judges while in power over five years ago.
The harried escape broadcast live on Pakistani TV marked a new low in Musharraf’s troubled return from exile last month to seek a political comeback in the May 11 parliamentary election.
(Associated Press, April 18, 2013)
Now he’s effectively living under house arrest – albeit surrounded by his residual Pretorian guards. But it can only be a matter of time before he bribes them to help him flee back into exile or political developments conspire to cause them to hand him over for trial on charges of treason.
I knew it would be thus. Why didn’t he? Fool.
At least Napoleon managed to return to power – no matter how short-lived and ill-fated it turned out to be. So even if he escapes the gallows in Pakistan, Musharraf will die in exile in even greater shame and obscurity than Napoleon did on Saint Helena.
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Arrest warrant for Musharraf…