The once close ally of the United States, General Pervez Musharraf, has almost been abandoned by US President Bush and now, he wants to bring another man to lead Pakistan. This desire of US President has further aggravated the situation. There is continued turmoil in the country and abrupt changes in the leadership could worsen the situation. President Bush is again making a mistake like he made in Iraq by launching an unnecessary war there. President Musharraf has been fighting against Taliban and terrorists. Let him accomplish the job.

According to an editorial comment: The United States is gradually changing its discourse on the situation in Pakistan and sending fairly clear signals to General Pervez Musharraf containing criticism and “directives”. It is quietly taking cognisance of the growing negative opinion of the Washington press and much more up-front anti-Musharraf moves in Congress. The new refrain is focused more on the “people” of Pakistan than on the achievements of General Musharraf. It has already taken a stand against the Emergency, which it wants lifted, and it wants the general to take off his uniform and become a civilian president after the Supreme Court decides the “re-election” case in his favour.



The US Deputy Secretary of State, John Negroponte, has said he will soon try to “help put Pakistan’s political process back on track” during his visit in Islamabad. The message from him is going to be tough. The “pledge” given by the country’s Attorney General that General Musharraf will resign in December may not be enough or too late. In Lahore, an increasingly outspoken US Consul General Bryan Hunt has added another demand: “The Emergency should be lifted and restrictions on the media also withdrawn”.



Mr Negroponte is going to talk tough about the suppression of the opposition in general and the arrest and confinement of the PPP leader Ms Benazir Bhutto. In anticipation, the general has freed Ms Bhutto while also allowing other important persons in the country like the human rights worker Ms Asma Jehangir to get out of house arrest. There is clearly a concern in Washington that the proposed Musharraf-Bhutto reconciliation has not taken place and in fact the government is now confronting the PPP in the streets of the country. After the clamping of the Emergency, Ms Bhutto has been less hopeful of ever arriving at an understanding with him. In fact, she has declared that her “communication” with him is at an end. Her new mode of communication is the Long March that has been firmly put down in Punjab. Her ability to mobilise the country’s largest party has however been demonstrated. Unless Mr Negroponte can dissuade her, she might take the next step of joining the rest of the political opposition to try and organise a final push to actually force General Musharraf to resign.





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