The IRI polls Pakistan

There's a new poll of Pakistanis by the International Republican Institute which shows Musharraf and his party as hugely unpopular in the Jan. 8 election. The poll also shows that the people would prefer a Bhutto/Sharif alliance (58%) or another military coup (56%.)

I mention this primarily because it has been suggested that the IRI has played role in the broader US efforts to overturn foreign governments. Recent rumors around Venezuela, funding and supporting "pro-democracy" parties in the former eastern bloc, Lebanon. They're not responsible, but they're connected, often acting as an overt funding conduit for "opposition groups."

Most of their efforts are what I would consider above board, but with the history, when I see them pushing anti-Musharraf polling and getting it promoted in the NYTimes and BBC, I gotta wonder.

(Oh, and there's this gem: (AP) "President Pervez Musharraf will lift Pakistan's state of emergency only after changing the constitution to ensure he cannot be hauled before a court."