Frank Pallone: “since September 11 the United States and the rest of the world have been curiously watching President Musharraf of…”

“since September 11 the United States and the rest of the world have been curiously watching President Musharraf of Pakistan and the role he has been playing on the war on terrorism. Fortunately, Mr. Speaker, he has been cooperative with the United States in our anti-terrorist activities. But unfortunately, Musharraf has shown no dedication to quelling terrorist activities in his own backyard, Pakistan and Kashmir. Musharraf has created a double standard where he fights against terrorism globally, but winks at terrorist activity locally. Mr. Speaker, following the October 1 attack on the Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly and the December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament last year, it was clear that action against Islamic militants needed to take place. At that time, it was reported that President Musharraf outlawed two organizations responsible for terrorism in Kashmir, Jaish e- Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, in addition to arresting nearly 2,000 men supposedly linked to terrorists. This was done in an effort to crack down on terrorists. The impression was also given by Musharraf that the madrassahs, those schools with training in fundamental Islamic principles which were directly linked to terrorism, would be closed throughout Pakistan. But, Mr. Speaker, this is in fact not the case at all. To begin with, the 2,000 supposed militants rounded up were for the most part arrested for minor crimes.”