Dangers of USs bargain with Musharraf becoming more obvious: NYT

The dangers of USs Faustian bargain with Pakistans military dictator is growing more obvious, considering that President Pervez Musharraf was on his way to declaring an emergency last month, until Washington rightly warned him against undertaking a move, the New York Times (NYT) says in its lead editorial.

Washington, Sep 13 : The dangers of US's "Faustian bargain" with Pakistan's "military dictator" is growing more obvious, considering that President Pervez Musharraf was on his way to declaring an emergency last month, until Washington rightly warned him against undertaking a move, the New York Times (NYT) says in its lead editorial.

The editorial noted that this week Musharraf "defied" Pakistan's Supreme Court and blocked the return of Nawaz Sharif, and then arrested several top leaders of Sharif's party.

The paper observed that Sharif is "no Washington favourite", and pointed out that the Bush Administration's criticism of Musharraf overstepping has been "pro forma".

The violent street protests in Pakistan, however, are raising fresh fears about a cataclysmic political upheaval in a country that is both armed with nuclear weapons and is the fault line in the fight against terrorism.

Sharif is "certainly no hero," and his two stints as Prime Minister were seriously marred by corruption. So, there is a particular irony in his self-promotion as an opponent of military rule, since the military first helped put him in office, the editorial says.

Most people in Pakistan want a return to civilian democracy, the editorail said, adding that it should include elections in which all candidates, even deeply flawed ones like Sharif, can participate.

"Despite his much ballyhooed 'freedom agenda,' Bush acquiesced in the General's authoritarian rule as the payment for his help in the war on terrorism," the editorial said.

Musharraf delivered far less than he promised, and today, al Qaeda and the Taliban are resurgent along Pakistan's border regions, the editorial says.

Commenting on the power sharing deal between Musharraf and Benazir, the NYT says that Bush is compromising his democratic ideals by encouraging the deal again.

The NYT claimed that even if both pull it off, such a deal is unlikely to produce a stable political structure in Pakistan, because both fiercely distrust each other.

The NYT observed that with neighbours like Afghanistan, Iran, India and China, Pakistan is one of America's most important allies, and its stability is vital.

There was a time when Musharraf could have led his country's peaceful transition to democracy and been a hero. Instead, he risks being toppled, to the likely benefit of militant minorities - armed Islamists or conspiratorial military nationalists - who would gain control over Pakistanan's frontiers and nuclear arsenal.

"If the general won't listen to his own people, Washington needs to tell him the facts of Pakistan's increasingly precarious political life. It's time for Musharraf to leave the military, for Pakistan to hold free and fair elections and for the army to find ways to support, not sabotage civilian democratic rule," the editorial concludes.

ANI