International Herald Tribune Editorial - Washington backs down on democracy in Pakistan

International Herald Tribune Editorial - Washington backs down on democracy in Pakistan
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: May 23, 2007


It seems the more unpopular Pakistan's military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf, becomes at home and the less he is willing to fight the Taliban, the more the Bush administration clings to him.

Washington is afraid - and entirely not without reason - that the next ruler of nuclear-armed Pakistan could be even worse.

But the answer is not to stand by while the general cranks up his repression. That only feeds the fundamentalist and anti-American passions that Washington fears.

Instead of propping up the general, Washington should use the leverage it gets from roughly $2 billion a year in aid to encourage an early return to democratic rule.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the United States has been paying about half that amount each year to reimburse Pakistan's military for fighting Taliban and Al Qaeda forces along the Afghan border.

Eight months ago, Musharraf radically pared back those efforts, but the lavish payments by Washington have continued. Islamabad's military cutbacks make it easier for the Taliban and Al Qaeda to kill American and NATO troops. Congress must insist that future payments be linked to actual counterterrorist activity and results, as some American military officials now recommend.

Washington's uncritical support has also reinforced the general's arrogance and insularity, which are at the heart of his current political problems.

In March, Musharraf arbitrarily suspended Pakistan's chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. The move, widely regarded as an attack on the independence of the judiciary, set off protest demonstrations by lawyers and the opposition that ignited the worst political violence seen in Pakistan in years.

The suspension came as the court was preparing to hear challenges to the general's schemes to keep himself in power - as both army commander and president - with his presidential candidacy ratified by the current, submissive Parliament, not the new one due to be elected later this year.

Members of the general's ruling party are urging him to compromise. Some are even calling on him to open the election to other serious contenders, including two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, now living in exile. Both of their governments were badly stained with corruption. But there can be no meaningful return to democracy without the free participation of the country's two most popular political leaders.

Musharraf is resisting this good advice, but could change his mind if Washington added its voice to the call for free elections.

A succession of uniformed dictators has misruled Pakistan for more than half of its 60-year history. All have advertised themselves as great friends of Washington, but all have fanned extremism while discrediting America's reputation among ordinary Pakistanis. There is no security with Musharraf. The United States belongs on the side of Pakistani democracy.