Pissed Off Kristof
By Charles Bird Posted in War — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
And who can blame him? Pakistan has a problem with women's rights, among other things, embodied by the travails of Mukhtaran Bibi. Kristof:
When Pakistan's prime minister visits next month, President Bush will presumably use the occasion to repeat his praise for President Pervez Musharraf as a bold leader "dedicated in the protection of his own people." Then they will sit down and discuss Mr. Bush's plan to sell Pakistan F-16 fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
But here's a suggestion: How about the White House dropping word that before the prime minister arrives, he first return the passport of Mukhtaran Bibi, the rape victim turned human-rights campaigner, so that she can visit the United States?
Fair enough. If Condoleeza Rice can go to Egypt and Saudi Arabia and press for reform, so can Bush with Musharraf when the Pakistani general visits the White House. David Ignatius:
But an overlooked aspect of Rice's speech was that it established guideposts by which to measure the policy of the United States. She enunciated a pro-democracy position so forcefully that if the Bush administration deviates from it, or undermines its credibility through belligerent, anti-democratic actions, it will be open to the charge of hypocrisy.
That "glass house" aspect of Rice's proclamation can help keep the Bush administration honest about some of its toughest foreign policy decisions. It's the secular equivalent of "What Would Jesus Do?" What would a democratic nation that cares about the rule of law do about the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? What energy policies are appropriate for a nation that advocates change in Saudi Arabia?
Rice was not advancing an expedient wartime ethic, of the sort we have heard too often from the Bush administration, but a universal moral one. America's mission, by her account, isn't a war against terrorism but a struggle for democracy. That may sound like a mere change in semantics, but it moves the United States from a situation in which every Muslim is a potential enemy to one in which every Muslim is a potential ally. Again, amen.
As I wrote here, the table has been set. The Bush administration policy is to "persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right." This is a case where the policy should be put to the test. If we sell Musharraf F-16s, fine, but there better be some strings attached.
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Pissed Off Kristof 4 Comments (0 topical, 4 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Musharraf's brother is a Chicago doctor and the general is pro-American. I worry more about the citizenry, too many of whom think bin Laden is a good guy.
That doesn't mean anything. The fact remains that he's an unpopular dictator with nukes that we keep propped up, whose nuclear program is also good at proliferating to folks who don't like us.
If the case against Saddam was a slam dunk, the case against Musharraf is a Chocolate Thunder backboard destroyer.
but he is no Hussein, either.
He took the country away from a tyrannical band of populist crooks without slaughtering the whole family, and without starting a civil war. He has kept Pakistan at peace despite popular feeling that they should risk war with India. He or someone in his cabinet has noticed that no nation with nuclear weapons has ever had a militarily dictated change in borders-- real or imagined Pakistanis fear Indian aggression. He has reformed the Army and the Secret Service. He has done pretty good.
You've got a political body in Pakastan, already armed with nukes, and lead by a less-than-impecible leader. I mean, few world leaders are saints, but President Pervez Musharraf just has that Saddam stink about him. This has Iraq/Iran war written all over it. Sell him weapons today as an ally. Invade the country fifteen years later because he's gone out of control. I don't like it.