You Gotta Have Friends

Our friend and ally, Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, gave ABC Nightline a day with him, and he used the interview at the end of the day to blame the Brits for not doing more to shut down extremist Muslim clerics. This came just two days after his government announced a crackdown on madrassahs that "promote extremism" and raids on banned jihadi groups.

I bow to no one in my admiration for Nightline. But at no time on the broadcast did anyone (hello, Ted) wonder aloud why these "crackdowns" occur in mid-2005, when 9/11 happened nearly four years ago. Was Musharraf -- who presides over a military autocracy that has nuclear weapons (and has proliferated their makin's to good guys like North Korea, Libya and Iran), has warred frequently with its neighbor India, and whose intelligence service is, shall we say, not totally unfriendly toward al Qaeda -- waiting until British fingers, in the wake of 7/7, pointed specifically at his friendly little outpost? If so, why the wait? For a clue, check out the coyness of his answer to Cynthia McFadden regarding the possible capture of Mr. Bin Laden.