U.S. official: Pakistan's Musharraf 'indispensable' ally

Source: Associated Press

updated 20 minutes ago

U.S. official: Pakistan's Musharraf 'indispensable' ally

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Deputy Secretary of State
John Negroponte told Congress on Wednesday that
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is an
"indispensable" ally in the U.S.-led war on
terrorism and that "partnership with Pakistan and
its people is the only option."

In prepared testimony, Negroponte also told the
House Foreign Affairs Committee that administration
officials "strongly disagree" with Musharraf's
crackdown on his political opponents.

"We strongly counseled against emergency rule, but
Pakistan's leadership did not follow our advice,"
Negroponte said.

-snip-

The administration's public response to the crisis in
Pakistan has been mild and measured, out of concern
of going too far in rebuking a close anti-terrorism
ally. It stands in sharp contrast to how the
administration responded when Myanmar's military
regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in
September, for instance.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/07/us.pakistan.ap

They are using Bush's support for Mushy as a rallying cry.

Just like Iraq, this will only help jihadist recruiting.