Enemy Gains Ground

Re Militants Gain Despite Decree by Musharraf by Jane Perlez and Ismail Khan in today's NY Times: once again, there is more evidence that the enemy is gaining ground. The choice for the United States boils down to supporting Pakistani dictator General Pervez Musharraf or supporting democracy, but at this point it is not clear which path will lead to a better outcome for the US.

I think Pakistan needs a secular dictator who is brutal enough to smash the growing insurgency. Such a man would probably resemble a Pakistani version of Saddam Hussein. Musharraf appears too weak in comparison, and he has already proved over and over that he cannot defeat the insurgents nor control the tribal areas.

During times of peace, the US should support liberal democracies. But we should never forget that democracies are no guarantee of peace. Adolf Hitler was democratically elected in Germany in the 1930s, and look what he did.

A democratically elected president of Pakistan will likely not have the power to crush the insurgency nor wrest control of the tribal areas from the Islamic militants. Therefore, the best short-term outcome for the US would be for a more powerful Pakistani general to emerge who can replace Musharraf and change the tide of events in that nuclear-armed country.