Bush blusters on and no one questions his words.

George is outdoing himself now.

"We expect there to be elections as soon as possible and that the president should remove his military uniform," Bush said in the Oval Office of the White House.

Well, yeah, because presidents wearing military uniforms does send something of a bad signal.

"Our hope is that he will restore democracy as quickly as possible," Bush said.

Restore?!

Jeebus H. Christ on a popsicle stick! Pakistan has been governed by a dictator since the 12th of October 1999 and Bush is just getting around to suggesting that Musharraf restore democracy?

And, what's to restore? Pakistan has a limited exposure to democracy and during those brief times that the people of Pakistan actually did choose their government corruption charges flew fast and furious around the leaders of the time, including the much touted Benazir Bhutto.

Nawaz Sharif, who was elected in 1997, immediately set about consolidating power and changed the constitution by removing the checks and balances which limited the role of the prime minister.

Sound familiar?

It was with the concurrence of the United States that Musharraf took over the government and had Sharif exiled to Saudi Arabia with a guarantee that he would not be involved in Pakistani politics for five years.

Musharraf then manipulated the National Assembly in a vote which legitimized his 1999 coup.

But Bush would not say what the ramifications would be if Musharraf didn't heed the president's words.

"It's a hypothetical," he said. "I certainly hope he does take my advice."

There's a prize statement. Coming from a person who has managed to turn South Asia and the Middle East into a chaotic nightmare, any advice should be weighed against the record.

But Bush, who considers Pakistan a key ally in Washington's war on terror, praised Musharraf for being a strong fighter against extremists and radicals.

Heh. Apparently Bush missed one briefing book somewhere along the line. The extremists in Pakistan have grown stronger since September 11, 2001; not weaker. There are security leaks in the Pakistani military which are reported to be feeding information to al Qaeda lodged in their safe haven in North Waziristan and the ISI (the largest of 3 Pakistani intelligence services) appears to operating without oversight and beyond the reach of Musharraf.

And who are the extremists Bush is so happy that Musharraf is fighting?

"This police brutality against peaceful lawyers shows how the government of a dictator wants to silence those who are against dictatorship," said Sarfraz Cheema, a senior lawyer at the rally. "We don't accept the proclamation of emergency."

Yeah. It's easy to understand why George W. Bush would consider lawyers dangerous. Adherence to the rule of law is not a strong point of the Bush administration. In truth, Musharraf's little state of emergency isn't having any effect against extremists and radicals. Instead, those being rounded up and placed under arrest are mainstream politicians and human rights activists.

The truth is, the Bush administration is interested in one thing.

"What is at stake for the US is, in US perception at least, the stability of the country but perceived essentially as a prerequisite for the continuation of counter terrorism operations," Frederic Grare, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace specialising in Pakistan, said recently.

But he added that while the US had considered General Musharraf its best asset in that struggle in Pakistan, in fact he had not delivered what he had promised Washington.

The Bush administration, lacking any depth of knowledge regarding Pakistan, might do well to consult Fredric Grare, one of the foremost experts on the region.

Oh right. He's French.