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April 16, 2003
The Good, the Bad, the Musharraf
Frequent readers of either this blog or the comments I have left on the blogs of others will know that I am firmly committed to Jeffersonian liberalism and a Wilsonian foreign policy. Thus it will most likely come as a great surprise to learn that I just as firmly support the Pakistani dictator General Pervez Musharraf...
Such comments, such sentiments, may seem utterly incongruous with my previously stated hatred of tyranny, of dictators, of all that would stand between people and citizenship. I submit that these views are not inconsistent...
Consider: The best form of government known to humanity is the "Good Czar"; that is: someone with absolute power who uses it for the actual betterment of society. The worst form of government is the "Bad Czar"; we've never found a good way of telling the Czars apart until they hold power. By then it is too late...
Democracy (in the common parlance; not as a technical term) is not designed to find the best candidate for the job (indeed, it seems at times to be opposed to such things), but rather it is designed to minimize the harm that any individual can do. Democracy is a compromise between the desire for one person, fit to rule, to have power; and the knowledge that power will always be abused...
(the last two paragraphs were mainly ripped from an NRO article I read a couple of years ago. I don't mean to sound as if I thought of them myself; I don't remember the author off hand...)
Current events show a pair of Czars; one of each type. We see "President" Saddam Hussein toppled from his pedestal, his reign brought to an abrupt halt; hammer, sickle and tank brought to bear on the problem. We also see "President" Musharraf, military general who seized power in a coup. A man who has time and again pulled his nation from the brink of war, reigned in rouge elements within his own government, modernized his nation, and held honest-to-Allah real elections...
Would a Bad Czar be told by a deposed premier that he Must give up his military rank? No. A deposed premier would be dead at the hands of a Bad Czar. A Good Czar doesn't want power for its own sake, but rather for a specific function; the health of the state. Thus far the Dictator of Pakistan has kept the faith and kept liberty for his people. America should support him in his efforts...
Posted by Andrew at April 16, 2003 02:04 PM