President Bush today said something nice about Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who lately has declared a state of emergency and suspended some democratic freedoms: "President Bush yesterday offered his strongest support of embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, saying the general "hasn't crossed the line" and "truly is somebody who believes in democracy." Bush spoke nearly three weeks after Musharraf declared emergency rule, sacked members of the Supreme Court and began a roundup of journalists, lawyers and human rights activists. Musharraf's government yesterday released about 3,000 political prisoners, although 2,000 remain in custody, according to the Interior Ministry. The comments, delivered in an interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, contrasted with previous administration statements -- including by Bush himself -- expressing grave concern over Musharraf's actions. In his first public comments on the crisis two weeks ago, Bush said his aides bluntly warned Musharraf that his emergency measures "would undermine democracy."
Naturally, Bush's comments led to some barking from the usual Democrat/liberal quarters: "Several outside analysts and a key Democratic lawmaker expressed incredulity over Bush's comments and called them a sign of how personally invested the president has become in the U.S. relationship with Musharraf. "What exactly would it take for the president to conclude Musharraf has crossed the line? Suspend the constitution? Impose emergency law? Beat and jail his political opponents and human rights activists?" asked Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a presidential candidate. "He's already done all that. If the president sees Musharraf as a democrat, he must be wearing the same glasses he had on when he looked in Vladimir Putin's soul."
Well, they're welcome to be incredulous. But think a minute. President Bush has been urging Musharraf to ease up. The other day, Musharraf did--he released thousands from Pakistani jails--perhaps in response to Bush's plea. So, in return, Bush gave Pakistan's leader some props--perhaps as he'd promised he would, IF Musharraf responded to our concerns and BECAUSE Pakistan is a country we need as an ally in the war on terror and BECAUSE in any case Musharraf is no Joe Stalin. We can still help steer Pakistan in the right direction. Bush's actions may be very reasonable indeed. This kind of give and take is called diplomacy--in the real world.
