Pakistan: US ally, US dilemma
President Musharraf's power plays, once tolerated, are now raising concerns in Washington.
By Howard LaFranchi | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the March 29, 2007 edition
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WASHINGTON - Ever since the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has doggedly made the case to Washington that he is the finger in the dike holding back a wave of Islamic extremism that could again reach America's shores.
Having successfully argued his own indispensability, General Musharraf has reaped billions of dollars in economic aid and arms sales – while encountering little challenge from Washington over his backsliding from steps toward democratic rule.
But now it is political protest, fueled by Musharraf's steps to consolidate and extend his power, that is washing over Pakistan. And that is presenting the US with a classic dilemma of the war on terrorism: Does a key leader's security value outweigh his authoritarian practices, and when does democratic rule become the greater guarantor of security?
Earlier this month, Musharraf suspended the country's Supreme Court chief justice. Ever since, Pakistan's middle classes – ironically one of the chief beneficiaries of the military leader's eight-year rule – have taken to the streets. Also fueling the uproar are suspicions that Musharraf is paving the way to another term as both president and chief military leader.
The protests are prompting concern, both in Pakistan and the US, that pent-up political frustrations and social stagnation threaten the stability of a key American ally at least as much as Islamic extremism in the country's less-advanced regions.
"For too long, we've heard that the only alternative to Musharraf is something worse. But the fact is we don't need him if he doesn't move towards a civilianized government with broadened representation of Pakistan's people," says Selig Harrison, director of the Asia program of the Center for International Policy in Washington. The lack of political reform and civilian rule has exacerbated divisions, he says, "and the more polarized Pakistan is, the more unstable it's going to be."
While no one expects the social unrest to cause Musharraf's imminent demise, many observers do see the coming months as crucial to Pakistan's direction.
