As much as I love the idea of democracy and capitalism which are essentially the matricies of my home (USA) and that of my country of origin (both my parents are Indian), I implore people to be realistic. Democracy and responsible capitalism is something that is developed over many years social innoculation. The truth of the matter is that Pakistan has never really been a truly democratic nation. Even the times when it was "democratic" those terms usually ended in disaster which in turn brought along more problems and setbacks for the nation as a whole. The Pakistan military on the other hand has so far been the only true stabilizing force for the nation. True, some of the dictators like Zia ul Haq have brought about a lot of misery to the populace, but atleast the nation has had some semblance of stability in those periods.
Now I am not a Musharraf fan by any means. Nor am I going to look beyond the fact that he is an egotistical sycophant who sees himself as the second coming of Jinnah or what have you. I do however respect the fact that he has made some very minor moves towards de-Islamizing the nation which at this point is it's biggest enemy. Only relentless attempts at purging radicalism from most urban and suburban Pakistani societies will result in a stable nation which then may serve as a platform for a democratic movement. But for now, a benevolent autocrat is what makes most sense.
