FLASHBACK: Nov 3, 1999. Camp Office, Rawalpindi. General Pervez Musharraf, the chief executive, had just concluded an interview with the CNN. Exuding confidence, Musharraf promised he would turn every thing upside down – for the better of the country. “You will see how our monitoring teams will fix problems and rid the country of corruption,” he had boasted. He also regurgitated his pet theme of “accountability and replacing sham democracy with real democracy.”
But in the years that followed until the August 6, when Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif announced to move for impeachment of “General Musharraf”, the former army chief lorded over a system that saw further “fragmentation” of  political parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League and the Pakistan Peoples’ Party. He also patronised Shaukat Aziz, who both as finance and then prime minister used to cockcrow Musharraf and harp on liberalisation of the economy. Both harped on “Pakistan first.”
Under the guidance of both Musharraf and Aziz, Pakistan today owes over 46 billion dollars to bilateral and multi-lateral donors, the shortfall in electricity stands at a staggering 6000 MW, the trade deficit is mounting, and common people still scrambling for wheat flour. Internal borrowing has also crossed 600 billion mark. Breathtaking progress under the two politico-economic wizards indeed!
Regardless of which way the impeachment process ends—if Musharraf refuses to stand down and the national parliament takes up the issue at all—the past nine years mark yet another black chapter in the history of the country because “self-proclaimed political Messiah” i.e. Musharraf kept pontificating the virtues of being “honest, dutiful and patriotic.”
But the blows his actions and words delivered to the body politik of the country will have a lasting impact both on the people as well as the military itself, which Musharraf used to the hilt for self perpetuation under the pretext of “democracy.”
Many of his close associates – particularly those who headed various wings of military intelligence agencies across the country – worked overtime to safeguard the interests of a person who, by virtue of the war on terror, had managed to rehabilitate his image from a pariah to a “statesman.”
Some of these officials are meanwhile repentant on the services they provided to their benefactor.
“I feel sorry for what we did for General Pervez Musharraf. It was a fire-fight for the perpetuation of one person and in the process, the country continued to suffer as we went by the script prepared at the camp office,” said one of the officers in a personal chit chat with the scribe.
Until doffing his uniform, Pervez Musharraf not only abused his authority as the chief of army staff (COAS) for self-perpetuation, but in the process also peddled one justification after the other – all in the name of National Interest.
When confronted with the question, “did you believe your actions were in the national interest,” the officer from one of the prime military intelligence agencies gave an explanation that runs contrary to what Musharraf has been telling us i.e. Pakistan First.
“No body really believes in the national interest, they have all been fighting for saving their own skin,” said the officer who sounded bitter and disgruntled. (Also reported earlier in Weekly Pulse, May 26, 2008).
“It was all about this crude game of power – with one player trying to out do the other – regardless of the consequences for the country and its system of governance,” lamented the officer.
“Being in service, we were forced into a continuous fire-fighting mode for a person, who was handling national institutions like his personal fiefdoms.”
Musharraf had his friend Ejaz Shah, a retired brigadier, at the head of the civilian Intelligence Bureau, while the Military Intelligence managed Balochistan and Sindh. There, they were supposed to look after the ruling coalition as well as fend off opposition as and when necessary.
Essentially, managing the friendly coalition and controlling the hostile opposition were the two tasks the services remained focused on all these years under Musharraf.
The ISI created the “friendly coalition” and the Military Intelligence managed it, particularly in Sindh, where the sensitivities of the MQM made the coalition management quite formidable, said the friend, who claimed they also advised good things to Musharraf.
“We also kept warning of the consequences of actions such as isolation and eventual murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti but the coterie of a few people around the president blunted all these efforts,” recalled the officer.
“Musharraf used to flare up whenever we informed him of the opposition view or spoke of the possible adverse impact of his policies,” said the officer who laid the blame for the May 12, 2008  Karachi Carnage also on Musharraf’s “blind love for the MQM.”
“Once we received the instructions to prevent Iftikhar Chaudhry from reaching the bar via road, we had to make elaborate arrangements. We managed it but at the cost of over 40 people.
“Once we knew over 40 people have been lost, we also advised the president not to address the rally in front of the parliament house. But his people turned down the advice and, prompted by Ch. Shujaat Hussein and the likes of him, the President boasted with his fists raised in the air ‘that we have shown to the opponents peoples’ power.”
Ironically, the new army chief continues to keep ex Musharraf loyalists at bay.
“Some of those relieved of duties in sensitive institutions attempted to seek jobs with other military and security institutions but no body within the system is ready to take these people back,” said the officer.
“Purging the establishment of pro Pervez Musharraf lobbies probably was one of the objectives the new COAS General Kayani had set himself,” the official opined. He believes that “the flak that the army got under Musharraf has unnerved people on the top and that is why they have gradually distanced themselves from their ex boss, who had made elaborate plans to induct the MI the ISI also into the election process for “desired results.”
But Kayani turned all plans upside down. “Gen Kiyani told us point-blank – both in general meetings as well as through official communications, that the army had nothing to do with the conduct and results of the elections,” recalled the officer.
“We must not interfere and our role is only to observe,” the officer quoted the COAS as saying.
It is nothing but tragic, that a man who championed patriotism and honesty, turned out to be yet another Machiavellian character – given to personal power and survival rather than to the interests of the over 170 million hapless people of Pakistan. He used to scoff at Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry as “scum of the earth.”
But the events of last weeks offer ample evidence that the author of the phrase shall have to bite the dust himself. For all the pontifications he amassed on poor Pakistanis, Musharraf himself stands exposed and likely to be treated as “scum of the earth” by political rivals – unless his international mentors save him the grace and agree to evacuate him safely.
This has also been the stated objective of the US administration and diplomats who believe that Musharraf served them well and deserves an “honourable exit.”