Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2: Now, out of all the interviews that you've had in
Speaker 2: these many years, there's the one that stands out.
Speaker 1: As the most profound. Ooh, most profound interview.
Speaker 3: Well, so I've interviewed people like literal dictators, like people
Speaker 3: that have killed people like Prevez I don't know if
Speaker 3: you remember. Proves Musharaff was the leader of Pakistan and
Speaker 3: this was post nine to eleven, so, and al Qaeda
Speaker 3: had been threatening him with an assassination. Now I've had
Speaker 3: great like Malalai Yasausi and Bishop Desmond too too, Jimmy Carter,
Speaker 3: like people of pure goodness like you just they they
Speaker 3: vibrate on a different plane of kindness and goodness than
Speaker 3: most people, and you can feel it on them. And
Speaker 3: then you have dictators slightly different vibe. So Prevez musharf
Speaker 3: it was only memorable because so he was at the
Speaker 3: time the president of Pakistan and he was under assassination threat.
Speaker 3: He'd just written a book and it was his autobiography,
Speaker 3: I think, and so he came here to the show
Speaker 3: to promote it. And that day we had snipers on
Speaker 3: the roof, we had AK forty seven's in the hallway,
Speaker 3: guys marching, we had bomb dogs, we had I mean,
Speaker 3: it was a level.
Speaker 1: Of security that I had never seen before.
Speaker 3: And I realized, like, this man is risking his life
Speaker 3: to tell his story on this show.
Speaker 1: I should have read the book.
Speaker 3: That's what I remember thinking is I thought, I thought,
Speaker 3: oh shit, I feel terrible. Now here's this guy's he
Speaker 3: could die and I'm just gonna be like, so is
Speaker 3: Pakistan hot?
Speaker 1: Like I didn't know?
Speaker 3: But so the crazy part was, even with all that
Speaker 3: security layer right in the studio, they put a kevlar
Speaker 3: front on the desk Like this was no bullshit.
Speaker 1: This was Many of you.
Speaker 3: Are younger, so you don't remember after nine to eleven,
Speaker 3: like we all lost our minds safety wise. Like so
Speaker 3: they put a kevlar front on the Daily Show desk
Speaker 3: and I'm in there and I'm looking at it, and
Speaker 3: I say, because there are secret service agents from both
Speaker 3: countries America and Pakistan in the room, and I go,
Speaker 3: what's so, tell me about this, what's going on? And
Speaker 3: they said, well, if somebody manages to get through any
Speaker 3: kind of security issues and tries to assassinate President Musharaff,
Speaker 3: we will jump and push him down below the kevlar
Speaker 3: to protect him from the bullets. And I said, you know,
Speaker 3: funny thing is I'm also you know, because you know,
Speaker 3: I understand he'll be there and then I'll be sitting there.
Speaker 3: What should I do without missing to be in New
Speaker 3: York City? Copwalk bind he goes, should fucking duck.
Speaker 4: My guest?
Speaker 5: Tonight?
Speaker 1: The President of Pakistan.
Speaker 3: His new memoir is called in the Line of Fire.
Speaker 3: Please welcome President Pervez.
Speaker 1: Musharaf is done.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1: Now I know it is.
Speaker 3: It is customary in Pakistan to offer tea to a guest,
Speaker 3: uh for hospitality's sake.
Speaker 4: So I have brought you this is a jasmine green tea.
Speaker 5: Thank you, may I pour Yes, indeed, thank you sir.
Speaker 4: This is Do you recognize Is this a tea that
Speaker 4: is recognizable to you?
Speaker 5: Yeah? It is, it is.
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 1: It's good.
Speaker 4: Is it a bargain tea? Have I insulted you in
Speaker 4: any way?
Speaker 6: No, no you didn't.
Speaker 1: It's a good but it is good tea. I've also uh,
Speaker 1: this is an American delaxy. It's called a twinkie. Uh.
Speaker 5: It is uh the so you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3: Uh. It is made up of a collection of things
Speaker 3: that are not edible, but when put all together it
Speaker 3: becomes edible.
Speaker 1: We don't know how they do it. Uh, let me
Speaker 1: have this, uh so please, sir.
Speaker 4: To you, yeah, to your health, Sir, thank you so
Speaker 4: much for doing We appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Uh m hmmm.
Speaker 5: Good?
Speaker 1: Is it good? Where's where's Osama bin Lad?
Speaker 6: I don't know you know him? You know very You
Speaker 6: lead on, We'll follow you.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much, Sir. I have to say this
Speaker 1: this I know, I confess to you.
Speaker 3: I know not that much about the history of Pakistan,
Speaker 3: your history. This is a remarkable tale told in various
Speaker 3: plain spoken language about a really difficult, volatile situation that
Speaker 3: you confront in Pakistan, holding together people that are moderate,
Speaker 3: people that are more extreme, people that are tribal, and
Speaker 3: trying to connect it all. How has that been? To
Speaker 3: hold that together?
Speaker 6: A difficult job, indeed, and especially made more difficult because
Speaker 6: international perceptions are pulling in one direction and domestic perception
Speaker 6: sometimes pull in the different directions. So I've had there
Speaker 6: to learn the art of titrope walking many times, and
Speaker 6: I think I've become quite an expert at that.
Speaker 3: I do a diplomatic aspect of appealing to It was
Speaker 3: very interesting to me to read.
Speaker 1: Your thought process. After nine to eleven.
Speaker 3: You received a phone call from Colin Powell the next
Speaker 3: day saying, get on board or get off board.
Speaker 5: You are with us against us.
Speaker 3: Two days later Richard Armitage is under Secretary Cause and said, oh,
Speaker 3: and by the way, if you don't, there's some bunker
Speaker 3: busters with Pakistan's name on it.
Speaker 1: But your thought process was very logical, walked through us.
Speaker 6: What you were thinking well, thought process was basically the
Speaker 6: interest of my own country, the national interest of Pakistan
Speaker 6: and the security of Pakistan. And in that one did,
Speaker 6: of course take into consideration that we are a nuclear
Speaker 6: state and destabilization of a nuclear state would cause disturbance
Speaker 6: to the whole world, obviously, and one has to take
Speaker 6: very deliberate decisions that you do not cause such a
Speaker 6: such an upheaval. But basically, may I say, all said
Speaker 6: and done, Primarily it was our Pakistan's national interest on
Speaker 6: which I based the decision. It happened to be in
Speaker 6: the interest of the world also, and therefore we are
Speaker 6: pursuing it with all the vigor.
Speaker 3: It was interesting to me that one of your first
Speaker 3: thoughts was can we take these guys in terms of America.
Speaker 3: When they said that, you know, I wasn't expecting that.
Speaker 3: I wasn't expecting one of your first thoughts to be
Speaker 3: all right, so let's see. Okay, let's say we do
Speaker 3: go to war with America. Okay, and you drew it
Speaker 3: out on the board, and you thought.
Speaker 6: Let me admit that we did take into consideration everything,
Speaker 6: should we adopt a confrontationist approach, and should we cooperate
Speaker 6: at all? Now, if you did not cooperate, then obviously
Speaker 6: somebody else would cooperate.
Speaker 5: They are going to be knew that the United States is.
Speaker 6: Going to reach out to. Whoever did this will tell
Speaker 6: restacked over ninety eleven. And they happen to be in Afghanistan.
Speaker 6: There is no way of reaching Afghanistan except through Pagistan.
Speaker 6: So therefore, whether we are on board or not, they
Speaker 6: would be treading through Pakistan, whether through its airspace or
Speaker 6: through its land. Therefore, this had to be taken into constitutions.
Speaker 3: Certainly, why is it that the North and Western Provinces,
Speaker 3: the Waziristan, in those areas that are so difficult to
Speaker 3: gain control of, you actually recently made a truce with
Speaker 3: some tribal leaders in that era, I was saying, in America,
Speaker 3: the idea of you know, let's say making a truce
Speaker 3: with Florida or you know, because we wouldn't.
Speaker 4: They don't deserve it.
Speaker 3: But here you are the leader of the state and
Speaker 3: you're going to them. What is required in a truce
Speaker 3: with these leaders is it saying will let you be
Speaker 3: as long as you don't hurt the national interest.
Speaker 6: So first of all, we need to understand with hum
Speaker 6: are be reaching the truth? And then we need to
Speaker 6: understand what is the greatest danger that is confronting us there.
Speaker 6: Today the focus has shifted from al Qaida to Taliban
Speaker 6: in that area. Now what is the greatest danger? And
Speaker 6: Taliban are the people. They are the locals, They are
Speaker 6: the Patuon ethnic group. They whereas al Qaeda were not
Speaker 6: the locals, they were outsiders and they were easily recognizable.
Speaker 6: These people are from the people. And now the greatest
Speaker 6: danger is that this Taliban movement gets converted into a
Speaker 6: platoon people's movement. So therefore, the important thing at this moment,
Speaker 6: as I see it, the strategy is ween the people
Speaker 6: away from the Taliban, ween the non Taliban paktoon away
Speaker 6: from the Taliban paktoon. Now, that is the basis of
Speaker 6: whatever we are doing.
Speaker 3: Will they no longer than give hospitality to the al
Speaker 3: Qaedas that live in the area, the bad Taliban so
Speaker 3: to speak.
Speaker 6: Yes, indeed, this is an agreement not to support the Taliban,
Speaker 6: but to fight the Taliban, to confront the Taliban.
Speaker 5: Well, that was nice.
Speaker 3: In the book, you are one of the primary targets
Speaker 3: about Kaida. You describe two assassination attempts, both on the
Speaker 3: same bridge. By the way, you know, I'm not again
Speaker 3: a leader of a country. I come up with a
Speaker 3: new way to go to work, but the same bridge.
Speaker 3: This is al Qaeda trying to say, apparently feeling that
Speaker 3: you have been successful in combating them and terrorism.
Speaker 6: Yes, indeed we have been successful because we eliminated them
Speaker 6: from our cities. We got always six hundred, about six
Speaker 6: hundred and eighty of them from the cities. They know
Speaker 6: more in our cities, and therefore I keep traveling through
Speaker 6: the same bridge every time.
Speaker 4: Are they extras in Pakistan?
Speaker 1: A noisy minority?
Speaker 3: You seem to be at the forefront of the threats,
Speaker 3: yet you seem much calmer about it than we are.
Speaker 5: Yes, I am but yeah, we're gonna take a commercial.
Speaker 3: We're gonna come back with a little more. Mister President,
Speaker 3: thank you so much again for joining us.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back.
Speaker 3: How long back we're here with President Chavez. Musharaff In
Speaker 3: your book, it's an incredible autobiography of a life, very
Speaker 3: interesting life.
Speaker 1: There's no mention of Iraq.
Speaker 3: Is that because you felt like it was such a
Speaker 3: smart move and has gone so well.
Speaker 1: That to mention it would be gloating.
Speaker 6: No, I think we were so overly concerned without area.
Speaker 6: I have mentioned about in a passing reference to Iraq,
Speaker 6: and I know that the situation, whatever the reasons of
Speaker 6: going there, I wouldn't get involved in a debate on that.
Speaker 6: But it has led certainly to more extremism and terrorism
Speaker 6: around the world.
Speaker 1: So we're safer.
Speaker 6: No, we're not.
Speaker 5: We're not safer.
Speaker 6: But I believe in looking at the present and then
Speaker 6: trying to work out strategies for the future.
Speaker 3: That's what we should When you met with the president,
Speaker 3: you met with our president a few days ago, are
Speaker 3: you able to speak candidly with him about what you
Speaker 3: feel is working and what isn't And is he.
Speaker 1: Seem open or paying attention or does he let's say,
Speaker 1: have the TV on or.
Speaker 5: Let me give to his credit.
Speaker 6: First of all, well, we didn't discuss I rack if
Speaker 6: you're meaning that, but we did discuss Afghanistan and the
Speaker 6: environment around on our side of the border.
Speaker 5: He was listening carefully.
Speaker 1: And because he sleeps with his eyes open. I just
Speaker 1: want you to know that.
Speaker 3: All right, mister President, We're delighted that you're here, but
Speaker 3: we have to put you on the Daily Show seat
Speaker 3: of heat show. Let's say if they were an election
Speaker 3: held in Pakistan today and not clearly for your job,
Speaker 3: because you're doing a wonderful job for let's say the
Speaker 3: merrialty of Karachi or Ombudsman or something uh, and we
Speaker 3: put up two candidates, George W. Bush and Oshama bin
Speaker 3: Laden be truthful, who would win a popular vote in Pakistan?
Speaker 6: I think they'll they'll both lose miserably.
Speaker 1: You're you're off the.
Speaker 4: Sated in, sir, well done in the line of fire
Speaker 4: a memoir.
Speaker 3: It's on the book.
Speaker 4: Heels now, President, profession.
Speaker 1: Musha, what about before we go?
Speaker 5: As always?
Speaker 3: The second with our good friends Stephen Colbert at the
Speaker 3: Colbert Report.
Speaker 2: Stephen, Hey, John, sorry about the muscle here but today's
Speaker 2: guest has made security insane.
Speaker 3: Really because all right, yeah we had we had General Maha,
Speaker 3: So it's sort of similar, who's your ted dance?
Speaker 5: And John.
Speaker 2: Might not know to look at him, but he's been
Speaker 2: shot at more times than fifty cent. So we got
Speaker 2: bulletproof glass around in the studio, gotta wrap the whole
Speaker 2: audience and full body keV Lar, And just to be
Speaker 2: on the safe side, we placed an ankle tracking bracelet
Speaker 2: on Shelley Long.
Speaker 1: Are you Are you being protected?
Speaker 5: Steven? You kidding? John?
Speaker 2: Only protection I need comes from the blinding radiance of
Speaker 2: my pearly whites.
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Speaker 1: This has been a Comedy Central podcast