Here’s a question for all philosotainers. Are we better off if Pakistan is ruled by a relatively rational and reasonable dictator pretending to be an elected president, who is an enemy of Islamic fundamentalists, as is now the case with President Musharraf, or by a real democracy that could end up run by Islamic extremists with an arsenal of nuclear weapons?
I’ve supported the friendly dictator concept since September 11th. We need all the friends we can get. But I’m bothered by the fact we can’t go into the mountains of Pakistan and weed out the terrorists. Doing so would endanger Musharraf, our ally, as I understand it, but I might have that part wrong.
If the mobs depose Musharraf, as they are trying to do, and the result is something we don’t like, it seems like it gives us a free pass to enter Pakistan. The Islamic fundamentalists won’t hate us any more than they already do, and we might as well whack Osama while the Pakistani army is busy with the internal revolution. No matter what we think of Iran, if Osama starts pulling the strings in Pakistan, it’s a much bigger problem.
Thoughts?