BUSH ENDORSES MUSHARRAF, IGNORES JUDGES, LAWYERS AND RULE OF LAW IN PAKISTAN

Bush last night endorsed his pal Musharraf. This is simply outrageous. Musharraf, wanting to remain in power, illegally tosses out the judiciary and the justices on Pakistan's Supreme Court and imprisons protesting lawyers. Talk about the rule of law!

Michael Abramowitz and Robin Wright write in today's The Washington Post:

"President Bush yesterday offered his strongest support of embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, saying the general "hasn't crossed the line" and "truly is somebody who believes in democracy."

"Bush spoke nearly three weeks after Musharraf declared emergency rule, sacked members of the Supreme Court and began a roundup of journalists, lawyers and human rights activists. Musharraf's government yesterday released about 3,000 political prisoners, although 2,000 remain in custody, according to the Interior Ministry."

Yet Bush, our great American saviour, sticks by his man. What happened to Bush the great bringer of democracy? The Bush who said that freedom (I assume this word means "rule of law") was God's gift to all mankind? Does it not apply to the Pakistani lawyers and judges who were beaten and locked up by Musharraf's goons?

The gospel according to Bush seems to change from minute to minute, depending on who is his "friend" (Musharraf, John Howard of Australia, Aznar of Spain, Merkel of Germany) and who is his enemy (Ahmadinejad of Iran, Kim Jong of North Korea, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and Assad of Syria).