Gen. Musharraf is finally doing what President Putin did for Russia--stop democracy from turning into total chaos. Hopefully, he is also finally beginning to listen to what many of us pakistani's have been telling him for many months now, that his original mandate was to impose tough political reforms and empower the Pakistanis so they begin to generate real leadership, and not prematurely hand the country over to a political elite that lacks real democratic credentials. And thirdly, by declaring emergency rule, President Musharraf has thrown cold water on Washington's plans for a regime change in Islamabad. Washington's handpicked future ruler of Pakistan, Mrs. Benazir Bhutto. This is good news for Pakistan. If Washington will not respect our interests, it should expect the same treatment from Islamabad. Americans are friends and allies and need to meet their own security and strategic requirements in the region, but itcannot come at the expense of Pakistan's own security and strategic interests.
