In a perfect world, it makes sense that a country’s own people know what’s best. However, the current Pakistani issue should be dealt with differently simply because the U.S. has been directly involved in Pakistan since the Musharraf coup. Therefore, it can't just wash its hands – at least not now that the self-appointed president and chief of the Pakistani army had decided to suspend the constitution and declare an emergency. A hands-off U.S. policy now would be tantamount to giving a green light to a dictator to do whatever he wants to do (so long as that includes crushing the kinds of people America wants crushed).
The present emergency situation was not declared because of radical Islamists, but apparently because it has helped Musharraf settle accounts with his opposition in civil society and in the Supreme Court. The move conveniently allows him to ignore a national consensus that the powers of the presidency and that of the powerful and rich Pakistani Army should not be joined in one person.
Had the field in Pakistan been level, the idea that Pakistani affairs must be settled by Pakistanis would be fine. But that’s simply not the case. Right now, every person who believes in democracy must stand with the lawyers and judges who are risking their lives to fight a dictator who has finally showed his true colors – colors that don’t look very pretty.
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