McCain: For Musharraf Before He Was Against Him
Just like everyone else, John McCain’s had statements out today praising Pervez Musharraf’s decision to step down as President of Pakistan. But it’s worth noting that back in December when Pakistan was in the news because of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, McCain distinguished himself for taking a much more pro-Musharraf line than most other prominent U.S. politicians. Here he is talking to Anderson Cooper:
COOPER: Is there any other option but Musharraf?
MCCAIN: I think that the new chief of staff of the army is a person who’s clearly going to be a player, because the army will play a role in whatever and however any unrest is addressed. But I think Musharraf, as the president of the country, is probably — and he has stepped down from his military position, as you know. Is probably also a key element.
Alex MacGillis reported for The Washington Post that McCain was “outspoken in defense of Musharraf,” saying “I continue to believe Musharraf has done a pretty good job” whereas “Benazir Bhutto and [former prime minister Nawaz] Sharif presided over failed states, there was corruption, there was a failed state in Pakistan when Musharraf took charge.” By contrast, as Jason Zengerle points out, Barack Obama issued a clear call for Pakistani democracy.
It’s also worth reading the December 2007 coverage in the last of last week’s Georgia coverage just as a reminder of how much McCain relished a crisis mentality. He thinks that scary things happening in the world are good for him politically notwithstanding the fact that he’s associated with the policy approach that leads to the scary happenings.
12 Responses to “McCain: For Musharraf Before He Was Against Him”
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August 18th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
McCain thinks democracy in Georgia is worth starting a war with Russia over. Democracy in Pakistan? Naive, pointless, and destabilizing.
Thank goodness we have McCain around to decide which democracies are ‘good’ and which ones aren’t…
I get confused easy!
August 18th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I don’t think that this represents an inconsistency. The fact that Musharraf is stepping down is evidence that he was not as bad as many supposed.
August 18th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
McCain is not wrong. I’d like to be able to say that military rule hasn’t done us any good, but as a Pakistani over the age of 25, I still remember what the country was like in 1999. McCain is right that Bhutto and Sharif presided over a failed and corrupt state, and that Musharraf did well in pulling us out of an atrocious spiral of economic disintegration.
Musharraf also deserves credit for an astonishing opening of the Pakistani media. I know that his closures of the Geo and Dawn TV news stations made headlines around the world, but it’s worth remembering the kind of stranglehold the so-called “democrats” who ruled Pakistan before Musharraf held over the country’s media. I remember visiting the country a few years ago and being astonished at the “Bush and Mush” satires published in the locally-published newspapers — they were Pakistan’s version of the “Daily Show”. But Musharraf didn’t event hint that he would take action against the kind of public disrespect that would have earned a stint in the gulag in Russia at any time over the last hundred years.
To those who hope that post-Musharraf Pakistan will flower into the kind of democracy that will justify a take-no-prisoners opposition to dictatorship around the world… well, I share your aspirations. But I remember what Zardari and Nawaz Sharif are famous for.
In the coming years, I expect: widespread corruption and unchecked looting of the country’s wealth; a breakdown of the civil and economic institutions that have sprung up over the past nine years; more saber-rattling (at least) over Kashmir (ask an Indian whether they prefer Musharraf or Nawaz Sharif); and a totally ineffectual response to the country’s regional and sectarian problems. The only issue on which we can possibly expect improvement is the country’s struggle against the Taliban, assuming that the new Army chief, General Kiyani, is given a free hand and is willing to use it. This is, of course, not enough to make Pakistan a livable country. But perhaps it’s all that really matters if you live in the US.
Despite all of this, I would (if I were an American) vote for Obama. I would do so on the strength of his domestic platform, with the belief that it’s better to have a United States that strives to extend greater freedoms to its citizens (like the freedom to associate with your peers without wiretapping, the freedom to choose to not to have an unwanted child, the freedom to choose your leader without being browbeaten into a decision by those who promise divine and/or terrorist retribution to those who make the wrong decision), and also greater opportunities (like the opportunity to become president no matter what your middle name, or the opportunity to claw your way out of poverty thanks to a progressive tax system). I would vote for Obama on the strength of his position on Iraq. But he is wrong on Pakistan.
August 18th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Anatol Levien also says Musharraf did some good for Pakistan – while also doing some really screwed up things.
The main problem for Musharraf is that he supported the US “war on terror” – and the majority of Pakistanis don’t.
Matt: “He thinks that scary things happening in the world are good for him politically…”
And he’s right. Got any evidence to the contrary, Matt?
Didn’t think so.
And that’s the problem. Until McCain gets Swiftboated on his “war hero’ myth, he’s going to continue to benefit from every Bush foreign policy disaster.
August 19th, 2008 at 2:31 am
As has already been pointed out, McCain was quite right about the democrats(?) who came before Musharraf. Its just that the Pakistanis no longer think the military is any better than the politicians.
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