U.S. should increase pressure on Musharraf to back down

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s declaration of a state of emergency puts the Bush administration in the unenviable position of supporting a military dictator.

And, it undermines President Bush’s key foreign policy initiative: the spread of democracy throughout the world. The rule of law is the underpinning of democratic government, but on Saturday Musharraf substituted his law for Pakistan’s constitution.

While the action is being called a state of emergency, the presence of Pakistani troops on the streets of Islamabad and other cities, the suspension of the constitution, the arrest of the chief justice of the Supreme Court and other justices, the blocked transmissions of private news channels in several cities and cuts in telephone services in the capital all point to a military coup.

Musharraf, a general, is head of the armed forces.

He insists that extreme measures were demanded in light of the violence being perpetrated by Islamic extremists and supporters of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist organization. However, an objective view of what has taken place leads to the conclusion that the president was guided by his own self interest.

The Supreme Court was getting ready to issue a ruling as to Musharraf’s eligibility to seek another term, and there were indications that the chief justice and others were leaning toward a rejection of his candidacy.

Musharraf’s blatant abuse of power and of the democratic process puts the Bush administration, which has publicly touted him as America’s leading ally in the war on global terrorism, in a very difficult position.

Coddling a dictator

The White House can’t be seen as coddling a military dictator, nor can it cut him loose in favor of someone else, such as former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Any sign of a lessening in U.S. support for the current government will embolden the pro Islamic groups in Pakistan to throw the country into chaos by fomenting civil unrest.

So for now, the administration is threatening to withhold assistance to Pakistan, which has totaled $11 billion over the past six years.

What makes this state of emergency — a military coup by any definition — even more troubling is that Musharraf completely ignored the advice of President Bush and other members of the administration. Bush went so far as to urge his counterpart to embrace Democracy to the fullest and not do anything that would give extremists a reason to challenge the legitimacy of the government.

The White House is walking a tightrope. It must persuade Musharraf to give up his dictatorial ambitions.

But Bush and his foreign policy team must also find a way of helping the Pakistani government deal with the increasing number of terrorist acts within the country, especially in the northwest region where provincial chieftains are protecting bin Laden and other al-Qaida operatives. They are said to be hiding in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Underlying the state of unrest is the fact that Pakistan has nuclear weapons and delivery systems that put countries such as Israel in its crosshairs.

So long as there’s a pro-U.S. government in power, the use of nuclear weapons against America’s allies in that part of the world is of little concern.

But if the extremists take over, all bets will be off.