The Musharraf Myth

IBD Editorials ^ | August 18, 2008

[Kaslin]

War On Terror: Conventional wisdom says Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's forced resignation robs the West of a key strategic terror ally. Truth is, he was a reluctant ally at best.

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Let's hope his exit will force the new democratically elected government to focus on the Islamist threat that only grew larger on his watch.

Musharraf stepped down to avoid impeachment charges nine years after taking power in a military coup. The general abused his power by sacking a supreme court justice and dozens of other judges who dared rule that he had to remove his uniform and hold free elections as promised.

Too bad the military dictator didn't take such extreme measures to deny terrorists' funding by freezing known terror bank accounts and to crack down as promised on al-Qaida subcontractors, madrassas and other extremist groups that still operate virtually unmolested throughout Pakistan.

Musharraf also is accused of corruption, including the allegation he siphoned off U.S. and other foreign aid intended for economic development and for fighting al-Qaida and the Taliban. He agreed to step down in exchange for immunity.

Musharraf's ouster has been a major distraction for the new government since winning elections in February. Perhaps now it can devise a plan with the U.S. to oust the Taliban and al-Qaida, and mend fences with Afghanistan.

[ken21]

>>>Won’t we now lose cooperation and ground in fighting terrorists in the tribal area? We can’t do much worse than under Musharraf, who essentially surrendered the entire region to the terrorists and banned our troops from patrolling there.<<<

correct.

[PGalt]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

In truth, the US worked long and hard to achieve one basic goal with Musharraf. This was for him to very methodically unite his fractured nation under the central government.

At the start, his power was just in leading the strongest minority faction in the country. His enemies were everywhere, and the sword of Damocles was over his head. Enclaves ruled large portions of his nation.

He could only act on a very limited basis. And so we calculated a strategy for him to slowly build national power at the expense of his enemies.

One baby step at a time, he did things like an initial purge of the worst and most disloyal of the ISI and the military. When he did so, we rewarded him handsomely by providing better weapons to the military, strengthening them. With a slightly stronger military, he was able to fight a little against the weakest of the independent enclaves.

We did this on many fronts. He was busy all the time trying to bring his nation together. And continually risking his life to do so. He fooled his political enemies in the parliament into having to embrace very unpopular religious laws that equated women with animals. So they were severely weakened in a subsequent election.

And there were several times when he dangerously bit off more than he could chew, and had to back down. The Supreme Court was one of these, filled with enemies inclined to give legal protection to his enemies, and always seeking to undermine him. But their followers were so influential he had to back down.

But all told, Pakistan is much more a unified country now than when he began. His last, still ongoing effort, is one last campaign against the enclave Taliban threat. And whoever now will run the country will find it a much easier and safer job than when Musharraf was in charge. They might even live until old age.

At the same time, our interests were achieved as well. The Khan nuclear proliferation network was put out of business, many of the most radical terrorist training madrassas have been shut down. And many Taliban and al-Qaeda have been killed, one way or another. Pakistan is no longer entirely safe or welcoming for them.

Hopefully Musharraf will have a long and peaceful retirement in some pleasant place. He has earned it.

[Cacique]

btt