Stardate 20011116.1002 (On Screen): President Musharraf of Pakistan has been in a very tricky situation, confronting a hostile neighbor who had gotten intolerable, internal dissent, and overwhelming international pressure. He has been pleading for a short campaign, because he knew that if the struggle in Afghanistan stretched out, he'd face more and more problems inside of Pakistan.
Well, the struggle is far from over, but the changes during the last week have certainly aided his situation immensely. Where it used to be the case that people in Pakistan were being recruited to go into Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban, now there are reports of Pakistanis trying to escape again back to the relative safety of Pakistan, deserting the Taliban cause. And where there used to be immense pro-Taliban-anti-Musharraf demonstrations involving tens of thousands of people, that too seems to have collapsed. There was an attempt by Taliban partisans in Islamabad to have a protest yesterday and only 900 people turned out for it. Clearly the shock of the defeat has eroded support in Pakistan, which is all to the good. Musharraf has been steering his ship of state through very treacherous waters and has done a creditable job. Perhaps in a couple of years he'll feel sufficiently secure to actually risk an election. (discuss)
