Daily Times

Sir: The New York Times’ editorial (May 23) demanding President Bush to stop supporting Musharraf seems to be uncalled for. The fact remains, as NYT says “the Bush administration clings to Musharraf”, that America is very much in need of Pakistan’s role against terrorism.

In an article called “Stop Blaming Pakistan” Mr Brian Cloughley very clearly states that Pakistan is a vital ally of the United States. “I lived in Pakistan for a long time and know President Musharraf to the extent of calling on him when visiting Islamabad, which I do regularly.” Pervez Musharraf, he says, “has narrowly escaped being killed in three attempts on his life by members of extremist Islamist groups. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was uninjured in a suicide attack while he was electioneering. It is unlikely that a person who has had survived assassination efforts by terrorists could be other than extremely serious about combating them. The religious loonies in Pakistan are virulently and violently anti-Musharraf and anti-Aziz because they seek to spread acceptance of “moderate Islam” in the spirit of the Quran. Musharraf would be extremely unwise to adopt other than an uncompromising attitude to the terrorist fanatics who are intent on killing him and taking over the country.”
To claim that Musharraf is not doing as much as he can to rid his country of terrorists is to ignore the larger task of ensuring Pakistan’s survival as a non-fundamentalist nation.
According to me the above excerpt presents a candid view of the situation being faced by Pakistan and President Musharraf himself.
FARYAL F KHAN
Sargodha