Shock and dismay is a good way of describing Washington’s reaction to the slow-motion judicial ouster of its key ally, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan.

Just as President Barack Obama has decided to expand the US-led war in Afghanistan, events in Pakistan have gone from worse to terrible, at least for Washington. The US cannot pursues its widening war in Afghanistan without the use of Pakistani bases, ports, soldiers, and the cooperation of an obedient government in Islamabad.Now, Washington is finally getting the democracy it has been calling for in Pakistan — and it’s the Mother of all Backfires.

In 2008, Washington sought to rescue Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s founderingdictatorship by convincing the popular Benazir Bhutto, then in self-exile in Dubai, to front as democratic window-dressing for continued military rule.

Madame Bhutto demanded amnesty for a long list of corruption charges against her and her husband. The US and Britain quietly arranged the amnesty for the Bhuttos and thousands of their indicted supporters.The amnesty also covered some opposition political figures.But just before Benazir’s assassination, she told me that jealous Punjabi associates of Musharraf were out to kill her.She also believed that once named prime minister, she could oust Musharraf from power.

After Benazir’s tragic murder, Asif Zardari then inherited Benazir’sPeople’sParty, Pakistan’s largest. He became president, thanks to strong US political and financial support.

In return, Zardari wholeheartedly supported the US war in Afghanistan, and allowed the Pentagon to keep using Pakistan’s bases and military personnel.Washington promised Pakistan at least $8 billion, not counting hundreds of millions more in ‘black’ payments from CIA and the Pentagon to key political, media and military figures.

That sleazy deal has now come unstuck. Pakistan’s newest,rather improbable democratic hero,Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was ousted by Musharraf with backing from the US and Britain, is enforcing the law by reinstating the corruption charges.

Zardari has presidential immunity against criminal charges.But his chief lieutenants face prosecution, notably regime strongman, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, and Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar.Both are key supporters and facilitators of US military operations in Afghanistan, America’s use of Pakistani bases, and Pakistan’s war against its Pashtun tribesmen.

Opposition parties are demanding Zardari and senior aidesresign. Islamabad is in an uproar just when Washington needs Pakistan’s government to intensify its Afghan War and provide political cover for widening US operations inside Pakistan, including air attacks on Balochistan. Skeletons are dancing out of Zardari’s closets: $63 million in illegalkickbacks and commissions allegedly hidden in Swiss bank accounts; Zardari’s estimated personal fortune of $2 billion; luxurious properties in the US, France, Spain and Britain, and on it goes.Zardari spent 11 years in jail in Pakistan on corruption charges — which Benazir claimed were politically motivated.He avoided trial in Switzerland by claiming mental illness.

The Bhuttos remain one of the largest landowners in a desperately poor nation where annual income is $1,027 and illiteracy over 50 per cent.

Pakistan has been ruled since its creation in 1947 by either callous feudal landlords, who bought and sold politicians like bags of Basmati rice, or by generals.

Zardari’s days as Washington’s man in Islamabad appear numbered.Most Pakistanis believe Washington is bent on tearing apart their unstable nation to seize its nuclear weapons.Such is the advice being given to the US by Israel.

After Musharraf, Bhutto and Zardari, Washington is almost back to square one in turbulent Pakistan.The US may have to find replacements for bothZardari and the equally beleaguered Hamid Karzai in Kabul.

When Zardari goes, or is kicked upstairs as an impotentfigurehead, attention will turn to Pakistan’s 617,000-man military and its commander, General — or should we say “president-elect”Ashfaq Kiyani?

Eric Margolis is a veteran US journalist who reported from the Middle East and Asia for nearly two decades. For feedback, write to opinion@khaleejtimes.com