A Walk in Musharraf's Shoes

Foreign affairs columnist Bret Stephens writes an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal's Online Journal. His premise is to examine the current Pakistani situation from the viewpoint of General Musharraf himself. As Arte Johnson used to say on Laugh-In, it is "veeeeeery interesting." Here is a key paragraph:

Abroad, the conventional wisdom is that you have shredded what little legitimacy you had and that your days, politically or otherwise, are numbered. You think they're wrong. You're probably right.

I believe Stephens thinks Musharraf will ride out this current unpleasantness. He concludes:

Your support, both at home and abroad, may never again be what it was, but the absence of support does not necessarily mean active opposition. In your case it will probably mean reluctant acquiescence to the facts you lay on the ground. Were you a democrat, you might feel ashamed to carry on ruling that way. Soldier that you are, it won't make you lose much sleep.

It will be interesting to see if Stephens' channeling of Musharraf turns out to be correct.