Bush's Democrat

In an interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, President Bush declared his apparently unwavering support for Pakistani President Pervez Mushariff saying that Mushariff "hasn't crossed the line" and that he "truly is somebody who believes in democracy." To put it charitably, it is difficult to comprehend what Bush means in seeing Mushariff as a democrat. This is the general who has imposed emergency rule in Pakistan, rejected calls to relinquish his military leadership or share power with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and placed judges and opposition leaders under house arrest. And yes, this is the same general who seized power in a military coup from the democratically elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999.