Pakistani Instability

This doesn't bode well. For better or worse, Musharraf's Pakistan has been a key component of the U.S. strategy in the War on Terror. Pakistan is a nuclear Islamic state, but we felt some sort of comfort in believing it was our nuclear Islamic state. But recently, elections have been causing them trouble. Pervez Musharraf won another term as president nearly a month ago, but he may or may not have been eligible to run. That was a question the Pakistani Supreme Court was expected to answer next week, but it appears to be moot at the moment. The Supreme Court, in fact, was one of the main targets in Musharraf's state of emergency. It was quickly surrounded by troops, and the chief justice was replaced. There's also been a crackdown on TV and radio that's been critical of Musharraf.

For what it's worth, the Bush administration tried to convince Musharraf not to make this move, but despite what we'd like to think, he hasn't been "our" dictator in quite some time. And this move can't be much of a surprise. Musharraf originally took power in 1999 in a coup, so in many ways this is nothing other than a return to form.

Although this seems primarily aimed at the Supreme Court and its potential decision to remove Musharraf from power, Musharraf blamed his move on pro-Taliban militants who have been experiencing recent success against the Pakistani military. We'll just have to wait and see whether or not this makes the army any more successful. Also in the wait-and-see column are parliamentary elections scheduled for January. Musharraf made no mention of them in his declaration of emergency. All in all, if his whole point is to make sure he stays in office, you've got to admit that there are few more effective methods of accomplishing that goal than simply taking over the government.