THAT'S WHEN I FELL FOR, LEADER OF THE PAK

Musharraf stands up and hopes to be counted (Victor Mallet, Daniel Bogler and John Thornhill, June 18 2003, Financial Times)

When General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, declared his willingness on Wednesday to send troops to keep the peace in Iraq, he had much more on his mind than the security of the Middle East.

President Musharraf - who heads to the US later this week after visiting the UK, Germany and France - has launched a vigorous diplomatic campaign to ensure that Pakistan is not forgotten in the aftermath of the Gulf war.

In an interview in London, Gen Musharraf painted a picture of a strategically vital Pakistan at the heart of the Islamic world and with influence in central and south Asia, Afghanistan and the Gulf. "It's a nation of 140m and a nuclear state," he said. "These facts cannot be ignored."

Behind the bravado, however, lurks a worry that Washington's interest in its traditional regional ally is starting to wane. The US-led "war on
terrorism" is still focused on Afghanistan and the lawless border regions of northern Pakistan, but distractions are multiplying in Iraq, the Arab-Israeli conflict and North Korea. India, Pakistan's rival, is steadily improving its relations with the US and China.

Fear of the U.S. and India is a perfectly acceptable motivation for doing the right things. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 19, 2003 8:52 AM