BUSH SAYS HE SUPPORTS MUSHARRAF, SAYS NOTHING ABOUT ARRRESTED JUDGES AND LAWYERS

I thought George W. Bush was the "democracy president." He seemed to have a mission from above to foster democracy throughout the world.

Of course democracy means a rule of law implicit in the power of the people to determine their own government. How come then today Michael Abramowitz reports in The Washington Post that George Bush as well as Condoleeza Rice made it a point to emphasize how much they support Gen. Pervez Musharraf, notwithstanding his suspension of the Pakistani Constitution and notwithstanding his locking up of the justices of the Pakistan Supreme Court as well as innumerable other judges and lawyers?

If Bush wants to support a dictator who is trying to stay in power by force of the Pakistan army, then how can he preach the gospel of democracy from here to the end of his term, in another 14 months?

In articulating his support for Musharraf, Bush did not mention the judges and the lawyers who were beaten and arrested. Before Bush or Rice dare to come out and signal support for the Pakistani dictator, they should first insist that the lawyers be freed.