"Pakistan's Dictator" - New York Times Gets it Right

I am extremely encouraged that increasingly the American press, led by the New York Times, is getting it right. In another editorial today titled "Pakistan's Dictator", the paper forcefully calls on the Bush administration to support an orderly transition to democratic, constitutional rule in Pakistan rather than blindly standing behind the singularly disastrous and dictatorial government of General Musharraf. With its short sighted policy focused on a myopic view of the war on terror, America is squandering a golden opportunity to stand with the people and their democratic aspirations in a strategic Muslim country. The movement against military dictatorship and for the rule of law is being led by lawyers, journalists and members of the liberal civil society and is refreshingly free of religious sloganeering or hate mongering. This is the kind of grassroots democratic spirit that the administration has been purporting to support since 9/11 but America is busy doing severe damage to its reputation and little remaining credibility in Pakistan by clinging to a dubious ally.

I would encourage all those who are able to write to the New York Times to write and express approval of the newspaper's stance supporting the restoration of a rule of law-based democratic government in Pakistan. Instructions of where and how to send the letter here.