Musharraf and The Stone Age

I realized my characterization of Musharraf was a trifle simplistic. He is a very intelligent man, but he also realizes where his best interests lie. Here are a few quotes from his new book concerning his somewhat forced alliance with the U.S.:

"I war-gamed the United States as an adversary. The question was: If we do not join them, can we confront them and withstand the onslaught? The answer was no...Our military forces would be destroyed....The Americans would undoubtably have taken the opportunity of an invasion to destroy [Pakistan's nuclear] weapons...Our economic infrastructure, built over half a century, would have been decimated. We could not endure a military confrontation with the United States from any point of view."

Now the really strange part of all of this is that Musharraf goes through the trouble of admitting that he actually contemplated war with the U.S. as an alternative to fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban. So on one side he talks about how he is committed to his alliance with the U.S, and behind the scenes, and in his book, he talks about how he only did what was necessary for his country, and how Dick Armitage threatened to send Pakistan back to the Stone Age if they weren't with the U.S. in the war on terror. You have to wonder what exactly his motives are in being this obviously honest. It reminds me of Saudi Arabia; how they have somewhat self-consciously supported numerous fundamentalist Muslim militant groups to shore up their legitimacy as the custodians of Islamic orthodoxy, while at the same time their leaders and businessmen lead rich, opulent and Western-influenced lives.

Musharraf definitely has his heart in the world of the fundamentalist Muslim culture, and it is undoubtedly to have it both ways that he treads both sides of the fence. After the 'jihad' against the Soviet Union was successful, many Muslims considered taking Kashmir back from India as the next holy war. But Musharraf is a complex individual. I plan on reading his book to get a better understanding of his mindset.

Also, about the whole 'Stone Age' conversation between Armitage and Musharraf; the following is the full version of the conversation as given in the footnotes of Musharraf's new book.

Musharraf's version:

[Phone rings...]
Musharraf: Hello?
Armitage: Hey, is this Musharraf?
Musharraf: Yes, sir.
Armitage: You better get with the program, buddy.
Musharraf: Excuse me?
Armitage: You heard me.
Musharraf: Who is this?
Armitage: I'm Dick Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State for the United fucking States.
Musharraf: Sir, it's 2 in the morning, what exactly do you--
Armitage: Look, are you with us or against us?
Musharraf: Mr. Armitage, I'm really not sure-
Armitage: Answer the fucking question!
Musharraf: You'll have to give me some time to think about this, sir.
Armitage: Do you like rocks?
Musharraf: (Long pause) I'm not sure.
Armitage: Well, I hope you do cause you're about ready to go back to the Stone Age. Get ready to be bombed to shit.
Musharraf: (Long pause) Are you drunk, sir?
Armitage: I hope you like rocks, motherfucker.
[Armitage hangs up the phone.]

According to Armitage, the whole thing was a big misunderstanding; he says that when he said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age' he was merely offering a friendly bit of advice. "In this crazy, mixed-up world," said Armitage on Sixty Minutes, "you never know when you might be suddenly bombed back to the Stone Age. I was merely offering a preparedness tip. I also told him to store a lot of jugs of water. Apparently he took this as some kind of threat."