| The touchy situation in Pakistan is of great concern for the world community. General Musharraf's recent abolishment of the government should be widely criticized and denounced by all concerned, regardless of political alignment in the Terror War. Besides, if he were such a staunch ally, why is it that the border with Afghanistan is still uncontrolled and UBL still at large? It seems that our millions in aid to Pakistan should be buying us more. Instability in Pakistan is a great threat to the security of the region. To date, Musharaff's regime has been able to control the country through strong-man tactics and the promise of future democratic elections. To no-one's surprise, this has not happened and probably never will. So, the pivotal question here is how to shore up Pakistan and re-establish peace in that country and the region. Continued backing of Musharraf is NOT the answer. Yes, his iron-fisted control of Pakistan does create control, but it is an ethereal control that could collapse with any popular uprising or inner-governmental coup....not to mention any hostilies with India. Would it not be better for all if Pakistan were allowed to get back on track as a democracy, the path that it was on before Musharraf's 1999 take-over? A democratic Pakistan would mean better relations with other democracies, and especially with its neighbor, India. The only true ties that the Unites States has with the Musharraf regime is the cooperation in the Terror War which was gained through direct threatening by the US. Throw in Pakistan's dodgy history of weapons proliferation and you have a regime that has not been the shining beacon of friendship in the Middle East that some pundits might have us believe. Besides, isn't terribly hypocritical of the US to champion democracy in the world and continue its support of a dictator? Without question, a democratic Pakistan would be a much better bet for security, stability, and even better cooperation in the War on Terror. |
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Democratic Security for Pakistan
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2 comments:
I totally agree with you. Democracy is the sole answer. Don’t you think that the U.S. made big mistake by focusing only on war on terror instead of promoting democracy in Pakistan? I thought this kind of emergency accident will happen in a few years when the Bush administration gave excessive assistances to "non-democratic state" in terms of war on terror after 9/11. Pakistan is now challenging America. What is the best way to deal with it? Democracy! It’s not too late to promote democracy from now.
Both of you are very correct in assuming that further backing of Musharraf is not in the interest for the U.S. However, I believe both of you need to realize that Pakistan has never been very democratic or on any sort of progress towards it in its entire history. You guys need to remember that most Pakistanis were actually very supportive of Musharraf after his coup as he ousted another weak and corrupt democratically elected government. Again I do not disagree with either one of you about the need for some democracy in this situation but I feel compelled to limit your enthusiasm for any democratic government that might emerge from Musharrafs exit.
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