I mean really, are we surprised at all?

In the age of computerized high-tech warfare, it is not just American hardware available on the black market. Now there is also vital technology and information up for grabs and — as military officials here and in the U.S. fear — leaking into the wrong hands in this region where the Taliban and elements of Al Qaeda have a known presence.

I was recently able to purchase a U.S. military laptop for $650 from a small kiosk, which is known as the “Sitara Market,” on the western edge of the sprawling open-air markets on the edge of Peshawar.

The laptop, which has clear U.S. military markings and serial numbers, contained restricted U.S. military information, as well as software for military platforms, the identities of numerous military personnel and information about weaknesses and flaws in American military vehicles being employed in the war in Afghanistan.

[...]

NATO supply convoys have been repeatedly attacked in the last six months and looted periodically inside Pakistan en route to military bases in Afghanistan. These attacks are a major source for the military equipment that ends up in Sitara market, according to Pakistani and U.S. officials.

But there are other avenues as well. The shopkeeper selling the laptop, who did not reveal his name, said the laptop offered to GlobalPost was brought in by one of his “suppliers” who specialize in smuggling across the Afghan border.

“I’ve had two or three like this come in the past few months,” he said about the laptop glistening on a glass counter under the sun.

It was displayed in the shop amid racks of combat fatigues and Kevlar vests and tool kits. A few shops down, U.S. military issue stabilized binoculars are on sale for about $100 and a night vision mount for an automatic weapon went for approximately $300. Gore-Tex boots and Oakley sunglasses line the displays of several nearby shops.

[source: Military.com]

Dear Mr. (soon-to-be) President,

You don’t know me, and technically I’m not an expert in anything- I have no formal schooling much beyond the high school level, have held no civilian career outside of basic retail services, and while I am an OIF vet and current member of the U.S. Military… my role in it has been rather small and low profile thus far. 

That being said, I still want to express my sympathies for the role you are about to assume in the world you have inherited.  Let’s be honest, it’s a nightmare out there.  The economy, heh, well we all know how THAT’s going.  But while we focus strongly on fixing the American economy, there are global matters we must keep a close watch on, because whether we like it or not, since throwing ourselves headlong into the “War On Terror” we are now deeply involved in most every conflict that could even possibly take place in arguably the most destabilized region of the world. 

First, Israel and the Gaza Strip conflict.  I understand where both sides are coming from here.  Hamas and the Palestinians are mad that there isn’t a Palestine anymore, and are bitter with the Israelis who now live in that region because they want their land back.  Israel wants Hamas to stop firing rockets into their country.  I know that’s over-simplified, but there is simply too much here to possibly get into without writing a text book.  Thus far you’ve been standing kind’ve in the background when it comes to this conflict, relying on statements such as “There’s only one President at a time”, when both you and I know that you have been working with great zeal on other aspects of what you’ll be doing as President.  It almost seems like a cop out to wait and see what happens.  One largely quoted reason that the assault on Gaza took place when it did is there was only a short period of time between the end of the ceasefire, and the beginning of your term in office, and while Israel knew Bush would totally be behind blowing things up in a major way, how you would feel was under dispute.  But here we are sir, and you’ll have to decide how America continues in response to their entire debacle. 

I’m not saying Israel is wrong to attack here, however their methods of doing so are mighty questionable, and our silent approval is turning many who were starting to maybe give us the benefit of the doubt with you coming into office against us.  Protests and flag burnings are being held not only in Arab states, but also throughout Europe.  Israel is our ally, however, we’re still looking at at least 1,200 Palestinians dead, near half of that have been children, and that’s not counting the many thousands injured.  Israel has lost 10 soldiers, and 3 civilians since this all began.  This starts to look less like a war, and more like a slaughter, especially when you consider that aid and escape for the Palestinian civilians has been rendered impossible, the only people escaping are the members of Hamas who thought ahead to use their smuggling tunnels and other means to get away as the assault began.  And before anyone accuses me of admonishing one group while ignoring the violence perpetrated by another (the U.S. tends to have pretty staggering numbers differences in our wars as well) I will gladly say that I’m against the death of any civilian, regardless of who causes it and why. 

Anyway, we need to work towards a ceasefire and some semblance of a resolution.  And we can not completely back Israel without backing their methods, and I believe we as a nation would be poorly served to do so.  Not only on moral grounds, but also out of, sadly, some amount of self-interest.  The Arab world was already weary of us after our lack of focus on Afghanistan, and our sudden needless at the time involvement in Iraq. 

Now after making progress in Iraq, and trying to refocus on Afghanistan, here we are again looking at a conflict that will quickly turn to blanket Us vs Them unless we work to mediate all sides.  Egypt and Afghanistan are calling for a stop to the assault and rendering of aid and reconstruction to the region, and usual pot-stirrers Iran, Syria, and others are calling for retribution in the name of the Arab community against Israel.  Violent times are pending with a finger on the trigger if we allow the conflict to continue for much longer.  It won’t matter what nations we bring Democracy to, if in their bitterness and anger they elect violent extremists to office.  If all Israel’s neighbors turn against it in full scale warring, we will have to come to their aid, and that is a battle we can not afford at this time, if ever. 

I don’t have an end resolution, I wouldn’t even begin to know where to look for one because as long as one group loses here, either the Palestinians or the Israelis, that group will be unhappy and looking to continue the fight, but we can’t completely remove one side from the table, that would be genocide, and while there are genocides or near-genocides that we have largely ignored (Armenians in Turkey, Burma, Darfur) we are better than that, and if we aren’t, then we should be. 

I know I’ll be unpopular for speaking against Israel here, even with just the members of this site, and I’m not excusing the actions of Hamas, their actions are criminal and the members of Hamas themselves should pay for them, but there is too much destruction here with the potential for more with no end in sight, so Mr. President, I ask you to prepare, because the moment you assume office, you will be looked towards to see how America will respond to the current state of things in the Gaza conflict, and what you say will have repercussions that will last us many many years, likely beyond your own Presidency, and I’m sure you know all about coming into the job with a lot already on your plate to be cleaned up.

A side note, but somewhat related- India and Pakistan… They are not currently at war with each other, and war is highly unlikely all things considered.  However, they are not truly at peace either, and possibly never will be.  That said, any escalation on either side of their border will only bode poorly for the world.  Pakistan has a direct link to our fight in Afghanistan for starters, and beyond that both are nuclear armed nations, and that last thing the world needs is a close quarters “Cold War” between the two.  Pakistan is a tenuous ally at best, between the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and the continued conflict along their border with Afghanistan in which they strongly demand that we steer clear of their side even when we know for a fact that the extremist factions we are fighting are staged there, we must be very weary of how we tread, we can not afford our fight to suddenly carry across into the two neighboring countries, especially when a 3rd (India) is poised for action even if they don’t desire it.

On the plus side, it does appear that the major conflict in Iraq is over, now we must simply continue to allow the Iraqi people to keep increasing their governing of their own country, and our drawing back and out of their way, after all… that was our end goal all along, right?

You have a lot to handle, and I’ve not even looked at employment, health care, the economy, or anything else that plagues our country.  So I want you to know that if everything is not 100% better in 4 years, I understand.  Progress is all I ask, just make progress.  The more the better. 

Best of luck to you,

~Skitz M. Jones

That’s right readers, I’m getting ready to head off for another training school, so with that in mind, I figured I’d leave one last little collections of links and snipes before I depart.

First off, Army… Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  Over. Wow, you know, it was bad enough a few years ago when you sent a few calls to duty to the homes of soldiers who had already died overseas, now here we have yet another whoops moment in the military sending letters of condolenses to families of fallen soldiers.  Sounds like a reasonable thing to do, but addressing each and every letter with “Dear John Doe”… dude.  Weak.  To make up for it Army Chief of Staff General George W. Casey Jr. is sending a personal apology letter to the 7,000 family members.  Well, while their heart was in the right place, gang, something to learn here, sometimes you need to put a personal touch to these things, blanket statements wind up seeming a little hollow even when you don’t fuck them up like this.

In other news, Pakistan’s National Security Advisor was fired after announcing to the Indian media that the last surviving terrorist from the attacks on Mumbai is in fact a Pakistani.  Well, looks the the Pakistan gov’t really didn’t want that being talked about, eh?  Hmm… I wonder why that could be.

Well, I suppose I’ll go ahead and end on a fun note, and what’s more fun than porn?  Yup, you heard me right.  Porn.  Have I got your attention?  It appears that the Big 3, and the lending firms aren’t the only people who need a bailout these days.  Larry Flint and the douche… ahem… sorry, Joe Francis… are both claiming that tough times in today’s economy are sinking the porn industry, and they should get help from the government too.  Wow… ok.  Now at this point I have to ask myself whether I’m the better man who wouldn’t make a greatly inappropriate comment here, or… ah screw it…  I guess business everywhere is kind’ve like a porn star, it blows.  Sorry, it’s all I had.

Ok, so… I guess that’s it.  Hopefully I’ll catch you all again soon.  Take care all.

~Skitz

It used to be that we thought of Pakistan as a relatively good ‘Stan.  Afghanistan was the more difficult ‘Stan, though once they were our buddies too, of course, we were busy with them “damned commies” at the time…  Enemy of my enemy and all that you know.  Anyway, India is saying that Pakistan is trying to hype everyone up for war following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Last November’s Mumbai attack must have had support from some official agencies in Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.

Mr Singh also accused Pakistan of “whipping up the war hysteria”.

On Monday, India said it had handed to Islamabad evidence that linked the attacks to “elements” in Pakistan.

(T)he Pakistani government have denied any involvement.

Relations between India and Pakistan have plummeted to a new low since the attacks with an escalating war of words between the two neighbours.

There have been reports that Pakistan has moved troops from its western border – where the military is involved in action against the Taleban and al-Qaeda militants – to the eastern border with India.

“Today even as Pakistan engages in whipping up war hysteria, our nation remains steadfastly united and if anything the process of national consolidation is becoming stronger,” Mr Singh told a meeting of state chief ministers in capital Delhi.

“There is enough evidence to show that given the sophistication and military precision of the attack it must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan,” Mr Singh added.

The evidence was given to Pakistan’s gov’twho are currently reviewing it, but so far seem to be saying they see nothing conclusive and are not making any actions.  As long as Pakistan is moving it’s troops towards India, that now opens up more potential for trouble on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Already a trouble spot given that many of the terrorists we’ve been fighting in Afghanistan have been hiding out in the hills just over the border.  Of course, the Afghans have a little something on their minds other than dealing with us and/or the Taliban and/or Al Qaeda.  They’re showing their strong support of the Palestinians who are caught up in the battle between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The modest white Miladul Nabi mosque is almost hidden beneath a massive poster that depicts a red fist raised to the heavens surrounded by slogans expressing sympathy for the Palestinian people, support for what it calls their jihad against Israel and hatred of the “blood-sucking” American government.

Last weekend, the mosque sponsored a protest rally against the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. On Monday, half a dozen young men with cellphones worked in its library, organizing a drive to collect money, blood plasma and volunteers to fight alongside the Palestinians. Sitting among them was the mosque’s imam, Ehsan Habibullah.

“Afghanistan is the land of holy warriors. We feel the pain of the innocent Palestinians, and we will stand with them to the end,” Habibullah said. “Israel is a terrorist state, and the Americans are supporting it, so how can they claim to be against terrorism? In Afghanistan, they are bombing civilians and setting dogs against women and children. They are not killing al-Qaeda — they are killing us.”

Well, you know how we were looking like we were going to have a groundswell of Muslim support around the world once Obama, who is known for showing a more open mind than our current Prez when it comes to world relations, takes office?  Yeah, forget about that, as Obama stands pretty much silent behind Bush and Co’s very wide open show of support for Israel saying little more than “There’s only one President at a time”, the world’s Muslims who feel the pain of Palestine view that as little other than a silent endorsement, even while most suspect that the reason for Israel initiating their attacks at this time is because they were not as certain that Obama would support them, but knew that Bush was all about blowing shit up, regardless of who it is.  So disregarding the question as to whether or not the Israelis are right in their current bombardment of the Gaza Strip, it’s still gonna wind up likely fucking us in the end as we’re having enough troubles in Afghanistan, and this is not going to win us any favor in the general public.  So whoo hoo for that.

Why are the ‘Stans so angry? Because it’s pretty much in their countries natures to be angry.  These are countries that have been warring with someone here, there, or elsewhere for more years than we’ve even given thought to them.

Over the past two years, the Afghan populace’s initially welcoming attitude toward U.S. troops has soured, in part because the international coalition forces here have failed to quell rising criminal and insurgent violence and in part because of civilian casualties during bombing raids and alleged violations of Afghan traditions by U.S. ground troops in conflict zones.

Now, the Israeli attack on Gaza, widely seen here as an act of aggression enabled by the United States, has become conflated in the minds of some Afghans with U.S. motives and actions in Afghanistan. Taliban propaganda and sermons by conservative clerics have contributed to a notion of the United States as an occupying power that seeks to subjugate the Muslim world.

“We have cable TV, and we know what the Americans are doing,” said Mehrabuddin Ali, a baker in a working-class Kabul district. “First they attacked Iraq. They didn’t find any nuclear weapons, but they killed a lot of Muslims. Now they are supporting Israel in killing innocent Palestinians. If they have come here to help us, we will welcome them. But if they come to destroy us, we will drive them out like we drove out the Russians. Real Muslims only need the protection of God.”

Well isn’t that cheery?  Boy I can only hope that all our various countries’ leaders and top military minds really know what they’re doing, because we’re aiming for a massive conflagration of animosity and violence the likes of which I don’t even want to think about.

2008 has been a year that in many ways defies easy summation.  Granted the words “utter disaster” “meltdown” “beginning of the end” could all come to mind, but so could “amazing triumph” “realization of hope” “beginning of change” and the like.  It all depends on how you want to look at it, and which parts you’d like to focus on.

I think the best I can do is… “it could be worse” and right now that’s true.

But the world continues to spin, and in it’s spinning we draw to the end of the year and the beginning of the next.  Sadly the calendar and various night spots are the only places where the strike of midnight matters.  For all things that matter, it’s just another day.  There’s been a lot of things I’ve wanted to touch on these past few days, I just really haven’t known how to go about it.  The economy isn’t great, and we all know it, though that seems to be a big focus for our incoming Prez and his Cabinet, so maybe there’s hope for at least some improvement, though for every bailout and stimulus check the money still has to come from somewhere and it’s likely that our kids and grandkids and perhaps beyond will still in some form or fashion be dealing with the fallout from each dollar spent… I don’t know where it all will come from other than just continued printing of money and exchanging cash for debt which devalues each cent and increases inflation and all around just further plunges us into the depths of economic failure… but there are those much smarter than I working on this case and hopefully they have a plan that while beyond my comprehension will nonetheless help to improve the financial state of the country.

However, there are other fears on tap, not manufactured fears heightened by changing color scales and random warnings, but actual threats to the well being of all peoples of the world.  Iraq’s security has improved beyond the holdouts who will likely continue to try to fight what is in their mind the good fight long after we’ve left and Iraq has been governing itself for decades, but while one warfront lessens in severity another picks up as the war in Afghanistan, so oft neglected while Iraq gained in focus, continues to escalate and grow in new and different ways, changing in dynamic, and requiring untried tactics to gain ground in the conflict.  And while American continues to fight in Afghanistan and along the border of Pakistan, Pakistan develops greater tension along the border of another of it’s neighbors in India, spawning most recently from the horrible terrorist attack and hostage situation in a hotel in India that has reportedly been traced back to Pakistan.  On top of that, the UN is still working on a commission to look into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto who was aiming to lead Pakistan into a new progressive future.  Then there’s the new escalation of force by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza and specifically Hamas following the end of the cease-fire and Hamas’ continued rocket attacks even during the cease-fire, the show of force which is dividing the Arab community as many extremists turn on their various country’s leaders for not taking a hard enough stance against Israel and/or for Hamas in a conflict that many are worrying could prove to be a rallying point for extremists and a growing source of violent intent and action.  In addition there’s been a raise in gas prices as a result of predictions that oil routes could be shut down due to violence and protests in the Middle East (in the grand scale of things, hardly the worst thing to spawn out of all this madness, but it still effects us so it’s worth mentioning).  Our incoming leadership has been strangely quiet about all of these world events as opposed to his revealing of plans regarding the economy, instead deferring to the current President George W. Bush and taking cues from him on what the country will do in response to all of these events and conflicts.

Like the economy I have no answers about any of these conflicts, they spawn from years upon years of issue between various social and religious factions along and about many different borders, and each conflict has it’s own intricacies that will require great care and consideration, as the clock continues to tick down the minutes to midnight and the end of 2008, I can only hope for resolutions to the many conflicts that face our world and a stabilization that would benefit us all in the next year.  I’m not holding my breath, and crossing my fingers would make it really hard to type any more of these late night rants, but regardless of what comes next… perhaps as some mantra that will just make it easier to get through the day remember that “it could be worse.”

…people are dealing with hangovers.  That said, here’s some news!

If you’re from India and looking to do some world travel… you may want to avoid Pakistan as tensions between the two countries are still running a little hot.  No one is looking to go to war (fingers crossed) but things aren’t exactly civil, and as a result India’s Foreign Ministry is warning it’s citizens to stay away from that border if they can.  Probably help tensions some if everyone stayed in their own airspace… but hey…

Meanwhile in Iran, shoe throwing has become the protest of choice as calls for the release of the shoe throwing journalist who nearly pegged the surprisingly nimble soon to be former President Bush at a press conference earlier this month continue, while the man awaits trial for his zany actions.

In bummer news, one time Catwoman Eartha Kitt has passed away as a result of colon cancer at age 81.

There’s a new green fuel being used- liposuctioned fat!  Unfortunately the man who had been doing the surgeries was allowing unlicensed assistants help him out leaving some of his patients scarred, and it’s illegal to use medical waste to fuel machinery.  Ah well, it was worth a shot.  Next up is used VHS tapes  just a thought…

Good news for lazy bums who enjoy their naptime- apparently sleeping a little more can help prevent calcium deposits from forming in the heart.  So next time someone yells at you for sleeping in, just tell them you’re not lazy, you’re healthy!

While the economy may be down, and retail chains are posting record low numbers and in some cases closing their doors, there’s one company that did quite well this holiday season- Amazon.com had it’s best season ever after 14 years of being active.  Apparently brutal winter storms, long or inconvenient hours of work (for those who still have jobs), gas prices, and a desire to avoid shopping nightmares like black friday, along with general laziness and the ease of button clicking as a shopping method, all contributed to people just staying in and shopping from home and making Amazon a winner this year.  Good for you.  (btw… late gifters, Amazon.com also carries my books of poetry, I’m just sayin’)

Who’s having the best year ever?  Why it must be President Elect Barack Obama who now tops the list of people most admired by Americans according to a recent poll, topping former #1 George W. Bush, who now sits in 2nd place.  One could pro’lly make the case that whoever holds the Presidency will pretty much always be at the top of the list, but it’s still worth noting.  Who else made the list? 

USA Today says one-third of about 1,000 people interviewed named Mr. Obama as their first or second choice. The report published Friday says it is the first time a president-elect has topped the yearly survey in more than 50 years.

U.S. President George Bush fell to a distant second in the survey after holding the top spot for seven years.

Hillary Clinton – Mr. Obama’s pick for secretary of state – emerged as the most-admired woman in the poll, a position she has held for 13 of the past 16 years.
 
Republican John McCain’s running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, came in second on the women’s list, while McCain himself ranked third among men.

Pope Benedict, the Reverend Billy Graham and Hillary Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, tied for fourth most-admired man.

Among the most admired women, talk-show host Oprah Winfrey came in third, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice placed fourth and Mr. Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama, ranked fifth.

The survey was conducted by phone in the middle of December.

USA Today says this year’s support for Mr. Obama is the second-highest rating in the survey’s history, behind President Bush’s 39 percent in 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The paper says support for President Bush has declined almost every year since then, falling this year to just five percent.

So there you go folks your post Christmas wrap-up, now I’m off to take a nap… just looking out for my heart!

The standoff against the gunmen has ended, and now Indian troops are picking up the pieces and assessing the damage done.  The count of those killed during the terrorist siege reaches near 200 as of right now, with close to 300 additional people wounded by the attacks.  The group responcible is a previously unheard of Muslim group called Deccan Mujahideen who are being linked to Pakistan via the sole surviving gunman.  It is thought that the attack was an effort to derail talks between rival countries India and Pakistan.  Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani denies that the terrorists came from his country, but is sending an intelligence official to help with the investigation.

It is unknown what the U.S. will be doing in response to the attacks that saw the death of foreign civilians including British and U.S. citizens who were reportedly being targetted specifically by the gunmen for hostages.  President Elect Barack Obama is currently being briefed on the matter and released the following statement: “These terrorists who targeted innocent civilians will not defeat India’s great democracy, nor shake the will of a global coalition to defeat them.”

We’re fighting in Afghanistan, so why are we having so much trouble with Pakistan?

It’s all about crossing lines; specifically, borders.

Adm (Michael) Mullen met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani “to defuse tension”, the state news agency APP said. Army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani was also present.

The visit comes after Pakistan’s army said it would not tolerate incursions.

Tension has been rising in Pakistan over an increase in US attacks along the border with Afghanistan.

His visit come two days after Pakistani troops were reported to have fired shots into the air to stop US troops crossing into the South Waziristan tribal area.

The tribal region is one of the main areas from which Islamist militants launch attacks into Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s military confirmed firing but denied that Pakistani troops were involved.

The major problem is that the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan is where the militants or insurgents (call them what you will) are hiding out and coordinating their attacks. Which is less than thrilling for the Pakistan gov’t because our fearless leader Prez Bush told U.S. troops to just go ahead and attack across the border without approval from the Pakistan capital of Islamabad.

It’s going to take a lot of work and coordination between us and Pakistan to reach anything like an agreement on how to handle the heated border area, hopefully we’ll be able to make some progress, I mean, after all, it’s not like we’ve basically been fighting at a stand still for 7 or so years or anything…

oh.

While Iraq has been holding steady and Afghanistan has become the focus point for major military troop movements, there’s another country in the Middle East that is under turmoil.

The Pakistani Prime Minister was the target of an assassination attempt Wednesday afternoon.

The attack took place in Rawalpindi, the garrison city near the capital. However, Sherry Rehman, the Pakistani information minister, said Mr. Gilani was not traveling in any of the cars in the motorcade. “This motorcade had left Islamabad to pick him up from the airport,” she said. “But the prime minister used a different route.”

He’s the latest in a series of politically based attacks in the past year.  Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated this past December while aiming for the Presidential seat recently vacated by Pervez Musharraf (who himself was victim of multiple assassination attempts during his time in office).

Last month suicide bombers were responsible for the deaths of 80-some people outside a weapons factory. Just before that, bombers caused massive injuries and deaths when they targeted an emergency room in Dera Ismail Khan.

In addition to all the bombings and assassination attempts and successes, NATO is finding strife in Afghanistan after a helicopter transporting international forces opened fire on a Pakistan village near the border of Afghanistan killing 7 people, according to a Pakistan Army spokesman.

Pakistan and America have been at odds over how to handle the issue of insurgent forces utilizing the mountainous region on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.  America asserts that Pakistan has not been active enough and Pakistan holds the opinion that America has been reaching too far into Pakistani territory with their rocket attacks and other maneuvers.

There’s been much discussion here at Missive about the worsening state of the Pakistan/Afghanistan border prompting the increase of troop deployments to the embattled region.  However, while the U.S. has been worrying about how to quell the violence, the people of Pakistan are looking for the root of the problem, and many of them are pointing at current President Pervez Musharraf.

The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) assembly on Tuesday accused Musharraf of following policies that had triggered unrest in the province bordering Afghanistan, which has suffered the worst of a wave of Taliban violence that has hit Pakistan in the past year.

The NWFP assembly passed the motion by a huge margin of 107 votes to four. The no-confidence vote comes a day after lawmakers in Punjab province passed a similar proposal calling for the president to be impeached.

The two remaining regional assemblies are expected to pass similar resolutions. Sindh and Baluchistan are set to vote later this week. The resolutions are not binding but are designed to ramp up the pressure on former general to resign before he faces impeachment in national parliament.

On top of this mounting pressure, there is a call to have Musharraf tried for his alleged involvement in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto who was poised to take the office from Musharraf in elections prior to her death.

If the motion is passed by the joint session in the Parliament, Musharraf will be the first Pakistani President to be impeached.

He seized power in a 1999 military coup and dominated Pakistan for years, but he grew increasingly unpopular, especially after he fired dozens of judges and declared emergency rule last year.

Musharraf has been largely sidelined since his foes won February parliamentary elections but has shown no intention of leaving despite impeachment calls.