WaPo:

Asma Jahangir, a leading human rights attorney, reported in an e-mail that she had been ordered to stay confined to her home for 90 days. She called it ironic that that Musharraf “had to clamp down on the press and the judiciary to curb terrorism. Those he has arrested are progressive, secular minded people while the terrorists are offered negotiations and ceasefires.”

Opposition groups did not mass any large protests on Sunday, but they vowed to do so later in the week.

Here in the states, it’s great to see someone showing how a foreign policy leader should act, for a change:

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) said Musharraf’s action requires the United States “to move from a Musharraf policy to a Pakistan policy,” building “a new relationship with the Pakistani people, with more nonmilitary aid, sustained over a long period of time, so that the moderate majority in Pakistan has a chance to succeed.”

So how about that terrorism fight? How’s that been going for Bush and his ally?

Even on countering terrorism, Musharraf has proven to be a disappointment. Despite years of effort, only a handful of top al-Qaeda figures have been captured in the unruly border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Negotiated settlements Musharraf reached last year with armed Islamic groups and tribal leaders in North and South Waziristan, in which he pledged to pull back troops from the border areas if the tribes kept al-Qaeda and foreign fighters out, turned into a bad bet that instead allowed insurgents to gather strength and to begin challenging the government in other parts of the country.

Oopsie. So appeasement with Al Qaida doesn’t work so well, huh? Who knew?

“The coup in Pakistan is a body blow to the administration’s efforts to arrange a shotgun marriage between Musharraf and Bhutto that would have given the appearance of a broadening of Pakistani politics,” said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst and National Security Council staff member now at the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center. “Instead of a more democratic Pakistan, we will have a more authoritarian Pakistan. Instead of a more stable Pakistan fighting al-Qaeda, we will have a military regime fighting for its survival.”

A number of Pakistan experts said the situation is too fluid for predictions. “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Cohen said. “I don’t think any Pakistan expert knows what will happen even tomorrow.”

Rice was in Istanbul, Turkey, attending an international conference on Iraq when her attention was shifted to the upheaval in Pakistan. One adviser traveling with Rice saw a silver lining in the rapid turn of events. “Thank heavens for small favors,” the official said. Compared to Pakistan, “Iraq looks pretty good.”

So since Bush declared ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Iraq, 3709 more troops have died in Iraq, we’ve become one of the torture nations, North Korea went nuclear, and Darfur’s genocide continues. Thousands of Burma’s monks are in jail and Turkey’s threatening to invade Iraq to go after a Kurdish terror group. Our seaports are as secure as a new Orleans levee and possession of Pakistan’s 30 to 80 nuclear warheads may be up for grabs. Bush pulled US troops out of Saudi Arabia, just as Osama demanded he do.

Rudy, Mitt, Fred, John, and Mike vie to be the next Republican president on a platform of ’stay the course and bomb Iran too.’

Hey, how’s democracy in the other nuclear superpower going?

The War of Error: the only way Republicans can live it down is to try and make you think about Mexicans.