When you lie with the Devil....

This post was originally to be titled "When the public becomes private...". While I will still write that post, which involves questions of loyalty by public officials, this one deals with the crisis in Pakistan.

I'm sure the Bush bashers will be quick to jump on this situation and ascribe the current crisis to his mishandling.

Frankly, Pakistan has been problematic since it's inception.

For those who don't know the history - briefly, Pakistan was established because of, or despite, Mohatma Ghandi's failure to unite the Muslims and Hindus of India.

Since that time, Pakistan has suffered from repeated corrupt leaders, military coups etc.

The previous president, Benazir Bhutto, who is currently under house arrest after returning from exile, had left in disgrace because of the incredible corruption in her government.

So what is the "Devil" in the title? Well, we are alies with Pakistan, more for stemming the tide of Muslim hegemony and formerly Soviet aspirations in the East.

The single driving force in Soviet, and Russian foreign policy has been to find a warm water port. To do that, they must head south, and thus, the invasion of Afghanistan.

What's next to Afghanistan? Pakistan.

Thus, our continued support of those governments.

You have all heard of our troops looking for Bin Laden in the mountains between the two countries.

By all accounts, Bush sent John Negroponte to speak with Musharraf in no uncertain terms.

But what can we do to end the current crisis?

It seems Musharraf still has the support of the army, which as a former general is not surprising.

But what of the Pakistani nukes?

Could the US have handled things differently?

I'm not sure. Pressure was placed, and Musharraf regularly promised to lead back into a democratic election. The one scheduled to take place next week.

What could have been done differently over the last 40 years? I don't know.

Next to Afghanistan, it always seemed to be a virtual democratic paradise.

What we do know, is that the sh** is quickly heading toward the fan.