Musharraf Ties Pose Dilemma For Bush

[rodeodance]

Source: washpost



Musharraf Ties Pose Dilemma For Bush

By Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 18, 2007; A01



Even before he walked through the door at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York for his first face-to-face meeting with President Bush in 2001, Pervez Musharraf was something of a hero within the administration for his decisive stand against the Taliban and al-Qaeda after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Over the course of a dozen private meetings and numerous phone conversations since then, the savvy and well-spoken Pakistani president has made a point of cementing his personal relationship with Bush. Musharraf has regaled the U.S. president with stories of his youth in Punjab, his empathy for rank-and-file soldiers and his desire to reform the education system in Pakistan, according to individuals familiar with those conversations.

"I think took an instant liking to Musharraf," former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage said. "At a key moment for us, we gave Musharraf a very tough series of choices, and he came down on our side. He is blunt, and Bush likes that."

Bush's personal investment in the Pakistani president, once seen as an asset in the administration's "global war on terror," is now seen as a liability for both leaders in Washington and Pakistan, where Musharraf's assumption of emergency powers and crackdown on opponents have triggered a political crisis in one of the United States' most important allies.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/17/AR2007111700839_pf.html

[dropkickpa]

1. Bush Failed to See Musharraf’s Faults, Critics Contend

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 — In the six years since Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, joined President Bush in the fight against Al Qaeda, it has been an unlikely partnership: a president intent on promoting democracy and a military commander who seized power in a bloodless coup.

Mr. Bush has repeatedly called Gen. Musharraf “a friend.” In 2003, the president invited the general to Camp David, a presidential perk reserved for the closest of allies. Last year, at the general’s insistence, Mr. Bush risked a trip to Pakistan, jangling the nerves of the Secret Service by spending the night in the country presumed to be home to Osama bin Laden.

But now that the general has defied the White House, suspending Pakistan’s Constitution and imposing emergency rule, old tensions are flaring anew. Mr. Bush is backing away from the leader he once called a man of “courage and vision,” and critics are asking whether the president misread his Pakistani counterpart.

They said Mr. Bush — an ardent believer in personal diplomacy, who once remarked that he had looked into the eyes of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and had gotten “a sense of his soul” — was taken in by the general, with his fluent English and his promises to hold elections and relinquish military power. They said Mr. Bush looked at General Musharraf and saw a democratic reformer when he should have seen a dictator instead.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/washington/18prexy.html?th&emc=th

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I honestly don't think he saw a democratic reformer. I think he saw what he wanted to become. His only issue right now is that Musharraf has told him he's not gonna play with him anymore and he's taking his ball away and not sharing.

If Musharraf had NOT broken off relations with bushboy, I have no doubt that everything he is doing would still be hunky-dory in his eyes.

[UpInArms]

2. 1999: Bush fails reporter's pop quiz on international leaders

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/11/05/bush.popquiz/

The front-runner for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination faltered Thursday in an international affairs pop quiz posed by Andy Hiller, a political reporter for WHDH-TV in Boston.

Hiller asked Bush to name the leaders of Chechnya, Taiwan, India and Pakistan. Bush was only able to give a partial response to the query on the leader of Taiwan, referring to Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui simply as "Lee." He could not name the others.

"Can you name the general who is in charge of Pakistan?" Hiller asked, inquiring about Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf, who seized control of the country October 12.

<snip>

Bush, in answering the question about the leader of Pakistan, also said: "The new Pakistani general, he's just been elected -- not elected, this guy took over office. It appears this guy is going to bring stability to the country and I think that's good news for the subcontinent."

editing to add:

The rest of that 1999 CNN article is definitely worth reading!

[dropkickpa]

8. I remember reading this article!

I was horrified and convinced that this would help people realize just how very wrong he was for the job. Guess not.

[Turbineguy]

3. Any article about Bush

can be started with "Bush Failed..."

[rodeodance]

4. The Wash post has a similar story in LBN

[benld74]

5. Thought he was lookin in a mirror

[yourout]

6. It's called envy.

[dropkickpa]

9. Exactly.

He admires PM's methods and bearing. Now he's pissed because PM kicked him out of his tree house.

[bluerum]

7. Dicktators of a feather, destroy their countires together,,,

[City Lights]

10. Two peas in a pod.

Bush so wishes he could parade around in a military uniform 24/7.

[LynnTheDem]

11. Would one of them "faults" be the wee fact Mushy is a DICTATOR?

But no, 'course not. Taking over a country by military force isn't bad. As long as said dictator is US-friendly, of course.

Why do they hate us?

It's the hypocrisy, stupid!

That and how we kill a lot of other peeople's kids.

[boricua79]

12. let me guess...he looked at his soul

and didn't see the Dictator in him?

Where have I seen this scenario play out again...:sarcasm:

[Subdivisions]

13. Bush admires Musharraf's faults. Wants to be like him. Is

envious of him.

[Solly Mack]

14. lololololol

a president intent on promoting democracy
lololololol


I'm gonna fertilize my grass with this article