From The Founder's Desk
columnist: Walt Thiessen

Topic: Foreign Policy
Bush Should Pressure Musharraf To Resign

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The dictatorial roundup of liberal and moderate lawyers and political opponents of Pakistan president General Perves Musharraf demonstrates an inherent weakness in President Bush's approach to fighting terrorism.

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by Walt Thiessen
(Libertarian)
Wednesday, November 7, 2007

For years now President George W. Bush has been foolishly tethering his war on terror to the fortunes of Pakistani dictator Perves Musharraf. Now the spam has hit the fan, and Bush is bleating that America is opposed to the crackdown, but he is unwilling to take any substantial steps to stop it, such as asking Musharraf to resign and allow his more moderate opponents who support democracy to take over.

With the arrest and detention of hundreds of Musharraf's political opponents (which pretty much describes most of Pakistan at this point), a complete shutdown of news operations within Pakistan, and Musharraf's emphasis on detaining liberals and moderates who would otherwise oppose Taliban-esque government in Pakistan, Musharraf is single-handedly showing the foolishness of the Bush doctrine.

After 9/11, what Bush should have done is to reach and develop strong ties with the real Islamic community in the world. I mean specifically the non-extremist Islamic moderates, who (neo-con claims to the contrary) make up the overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world. He should have taken advantage of the tremendous sympathy our country had after the 9/11 attacks among Muslim nations to forge relationships that would have led to the capture and conviction of Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants long before now. Instead he has done everything in his power to alienate Muslim moderates, choosing to tie his fortunes to yet another dictator and failing to learn from the mistakes of previous administrations who similarly tied their fortunes to a dictator named Saddam Hussein and an ex-Saudi turned Afghan freedom fighter named bin Laden.

The last paragraphs of a New York Times article contain a poignant exchange between Athar Minallah, a former member of Pakistan's cabinet and now a political opponent, and Tariq Aziz, one of Bush's most trusted aides and head of the National Security Council:

After General Musharraf suspended the chief justice in March, Mr. Minallah said he warned one of the president’s most trusted aides, Tariq Aziz, the head of the National Security Council, that the general had lost his base of popular support.

Mr. Minallah said: "I told him: ‘Don’t believe any of the reports from the intelligence agencies. Go and disguise yourself and see if you can find a single person who is not angry at Pervez Musharraf.’"

He added: "His reply was that he should leave if he’s so unpopular. I said: ‘That’s for you to tell him.’"

This is yet another reason why Congressman Ron Paul opposes Bush's isolationist policies. I don't believe that Paul would hang onto our country's "friendship" with Musharraf in preference to democratic principles in Pakistan because unlike Bush, Paul's foreign policy would not depend on Musharraf.

At the Iowa Republican debates this past June, Paul said:

"Our responsibility is to spread democracy here, make sure that we have it. This is a philosophic and foreign policy problem, because what the president was saying was just a continuation of Woodrow Wilson's 'making the world safe for democracy.' There's nothing wrong with spreading our values around the world, but it is wrong to spread it by force. We should spread it by setting an example and going and doing a good job here. Threatening Pakistan and threatening Iran makes no sense whatsoever. I supported going after Al Qaida into Afghanistan--but, lo & behold, the neocons took over. They forgot about Bin Laden. And what they did, they went into nation-building, not only in Afghanistan, they went unjustifiably over into Iraq. And that's why we're in this mess today."

This points to the real Bushian logic of what "promoting democracy" is all about. When he says he wants democracy in Iraq, what he means is that he wants to appeal to supporters of democracy in this country to back his empire-building policies in Iraq. I have little doubt that if Musharraf becomes too much of a liability, Bush will want to ignore all reason and caution, preferring to invade Pakistan instead to take Musharraf out.

Is this really the kind of foreign policy America should have, an isolationism that alienates our real friends around the world and allies us with dictators and tyrants, leading ultimately to military interventions that are costly in terms of blood, dollars, and respect? I think not. This is yet another reason why America needs Ron Paul in the White House.

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2007 Walt Thiessen, all rights reserved.
Published: Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Last modified: Wednesday, November 7, 2007

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