Tyranny in Pakistan

These are the actions of a tyrant.

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has declared emergency rule and suspended the country’s constitution.

Troops have been deployed inside state-run TV and radio stations, while independent channels have gone off air.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who condemned the moves, has been replaced and is being confined to the Supreme Court with 10 other judges.

It comes as the court was due to rule on the legality of Gen Musharraf’s re-election victory in October.

The court was to decide whether Gen Musharraf was eligible to run for election last month while remaining army chief.

The justification for the emergency rule is very very weak.  It looks more like Musharraf was fearful of being ousted from office by the supreme court. 

So what, if anything, should America do?  Musharraf has been helpful to us in our efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere, but he is clearly acting the tyrant.  Personally, I think that the US should condemn his actions and suspend aid to Pakistan (including the support for Musharraf’s security force that I’m sure we’re providing) until Musharraf backs down and allows the rule of law to prevail.  There will be consequences that may include the decline of Pakistan into anarchy or a terrorist state, difficulty in the supply chain to allied troops in Afghanistan, the sale of one of Pakistan’s nukes to Iran or someone else, and a host of other things.  But I believe that the possible negative consequences of such an action are outweighed by our long term interests in supporting the rule of law to prevail in a country like Pakistan. 

What do y’all think?