…When historians look back on this period, they may well identify the inability of the West to keep its friends in the Muslim world alive as one of the key factors strengthening the extremists at every turn.
But more specifically, US strategy in Pakistan is now in a comprehensive mess. Washington wanted the forces of secularism in Pakistan to reunite. In that equation President Pervez Musharraf represented the broadly secular military and Bhutto represented the civil society: the judges and lawyers and academics, and also the ordinary poor people of Pakistan who throughout their history have been mostly religiously tolerant and politically moderate.
These two forces were expected to be reunited by the general election on January 8. Musharraf would remain President. His hand-picked successor, General Ashfaq Kayani, would head the army. And Bhutto would be prime minister, achieving her position through democratic election and adding a sheen of legitimacy to the Pakistani power structure.
Greg Sheridan’s analysis is the most useful that I’ve encountered. Recommended.
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