..."He may be a bastard, but he's OUR bastard."

We'll never cut off aid to Musharaff or Pakistan, as long as he's in power and parrots the Bush mantra that he's a bulwark against Islamic extremism, all the while actually fomenting ever-greater political resistance in response to his naked power grab.

Kind of turns the relationship on its head, doesn't it? We've painted ourselves into a corner with Musharaff, and have nowhere else to turn. Now we discover that he can not only thumb his nose at us -- he can probably demand (and get) further concessions from us with impunity! Great planning, as usual, Mr. Bush.

"Having said that . . . President Musharraf has been a strong fighter against extremists and radicals. . . he understands the dangers posed by radicals and extremists. After all, they tried to kill him three or four times. And our hope is that he will restore democracy as quickly as possible."

am i the only one who sees some sort of tiny little wheel turning in gw's head, when he says 'having said that....'

Yeah, like -- democracy is important and all - but having said that - i go against all the principles of the thing itself in order to ah.....(what is he doin' again?) oh yeah, protect us.

OT maybe but while i'm here, i'll say it. we really look stupid; splitting hairs over what's torture and what's just "simulated drowning".

i honestly thought i'd never see the day when my country appoints an attorney general (a man OF the law?) who don't know enough about that to know, it's been against the law for many, many years.

"Having said that ... President Musharraf has been a strong fighter against extremists and radicals ... he understands the dangers posed by radicals and extremists. After all, they tried to kill him three or four times. And our hope is that he will restore democracy as quickly as possible."

It never ceases to amaze me how low we set the bar for democracy for countries we consider our allies (Saudi arabia, Pakistan, etc), especially for one that is know to harbor terrorists. Pakistan has remained a known haven for terrorists and is now undermining democratic elections and restoring authoritarian measures, and our Administration doesn't even blink. Apparently, there isn't even a desire to conceal the empty lip service for democracy as anything other than lip service.

I love it when I read that Bush told (so-and-so) they had to do his bidding, and he gets ignored. If Musharraf can do that (and he likes our money), why can't Congress (who controls our money)?

Pakistan has weapons of mass destruction, and has exported them (see AQKhan). They protect terrorists. Their leader is illegal; having deposed a duly elected president. Don't they have all the earmarks of a country that's ripe for regime change?

The fact that Bush still considers this yahoo an ally is so completely illogical that it serves no perceivable purpose beyong inciting conspiracy theorists to wax nutty on the state of the world.

The simple fact is that it is because of this loon that the US has not been able to conduct any significant operation in search of O.B.L. in the tribal regions on the Pakistan side of the Afghanistan/Pakistan border.

While Musharraf has been oppressing his people in the name of fighting extremism (something of which the Administration is a known fan), he has blocked the US military from pursuing the man behind the 9-11 attacks and subsequent surge of international extremism.

Bush still calls him an ally?

There are creepy dots to be connected here, but frankly I'm just to fucking sick of these lunatics to bother.

We're occupying Iraq, we're in Afghanistan, we're on the verge of war with Iran, we back every belligerent move Israel makes,, Turkey is fed up with us and is poised to go into Iraq, we've threatened Syria, Pakistan is blowing up in our face. Could we honestly have fucked up more?

The frightening thing is that we're facing an election that will be a profound turning point in our history, and let's be honest, all of the choices are at best uninspiring.

Undermining democracy....these two are cut from the same cloth, Bush is just jealous he can't pull that shit here...oh wait.... we won't know until November '08 he still has time

"Pak government" or is that a reporting shorthand? Either way, it's rude, especially if uttered by a sitting US President. Did he really say that???

A Pakistani journalist* said this morning on "On Point" that the US is clearly party to the move. The Bush administration is far more worried about the possibility of electing either a failed democratic leader or an Islamic conservative than about "delaying" democracy in Pakistan. Evidently, a judge on the Supreme Court in Islamabad had advised Musharraf a couple of days ago that the court was about to rule against his dual role as political and military leader, that he'd have to step down on November 15th and allow elections. He wasn't about to give up power, had planned the crackdown well before this long-anticipated and unfavorable Supreme Court decision. Throughout, Musharraf has had the tacit backing of the US -- no matter what we're saying publicly.

*I wasn't clear which of the two Pakistani guests on the show actually said this. They are: Husain Haqqani, director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University and an advisor to former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif; and Adil Najam, professor at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, columnist for The News International, an English-language newspaper in Pakistan, and founding editor of the blog pakistaniat.com For those interested, the 50' discussion can be heard at WBUR's "On Point."

One consequence of Bushco's retarded, violent, failure of a foreign policy - NO influence over either friend or foe. And why should anyone do what our incompetent ignorant "administration" says? They have proven time and time again that the consequences of loyally toeing the line are betrayal as soon as the going gets tough (Kurds, Turkey, eg. How about Tony Blair's one-way relationship?), and that we can be given the one-fingered salute with impunity (Israel, Venezuela).

It will take decades to repair the damage done by these fucking pinheads. The world is laughing. Bush is a joke.