Word: musharraf
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Having written the Musharraf story, the Bush Administration now appears captive to it. The White House could only wag a disapproving finger at the Pakistani dictator, urging him to give up his military uniform and hold elections. "I certainly hope he does take my advice," Bush said. What little reproach there was in the President's comments was undermined by his description of Musharraf as a "strong fighter against extremists and radicals"--and by swift reassurances from Administration officials that there would be no slowing in the flow of American aid to the Pakistani military. Stronger opprobrium and sanctions...
Whether that is true or not (and many neutral observers would say the latter), the Administration has known for some months that its horse was heading for the knacker's yard: Musharraf's popularity at home has plummeted since March, when he suspended the independent-minded Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. That sparked massive protests by moderate Pakistanis, the people who had once backed the general against al-Qaeda terrorists and Taliban militants. With a general election looming in Pakistan, the Bush Administration began to write a new cover story, giving its hero an unlikely sidekick...
...hurdle was the Supreme Court, which had begun to challenge the government's extrajudicial detentions and examine potentially corrupt privatization schemes. In July it reinstated Chaudhry, and when the Musharraf-Bhutto deal was announced, the court questioned the general's right to drop a slew of corruption charges against Bhutto and to keep Sharif in exile. In early October, after Musharraf was re-elected President by the Parliament and state assemblies--the opposition parties all boycotted the process--the court began hearing challenges as to whether the vote and Musharraf's candidacy were constitutional. The decision was meant...
...Then Musharraf unveiled a cover story of his own. In a rambling, hour-long speech to the nation, he invoked Abraham Lincoln and claimed he had been forced to act because of a rise in extremism in the country. And he accused the Supreme Court of "weakening the government's resolve" to fight terrorism by ordering the release of 61 suspected terrorists in the government's custody. But it wasn't the extremists who bore the brunt of Musharraf's wrath. Indeed, even as his regime cracked down on lawyers, journalists and human-rights activists, it agreed to a cease...
Bhutto, meanwhile, tried to have it both ways. She criticized the general and called for demonstrations against him but carefully kept open the possibility that their deal might still be on. Speaking with TIME, she said she wanted an immediate return to the constitution, for Musharraf to step down as army chief, and for elections to go ahead in January as planned. "My faith has certainly been shaken," Bhutto told TIME. But if her main demands are met, she continued, "then we can say that all that has occurred, we will let it drop...