Bush's BFF Going Down

William Arkin blogs for washingtonpost.com:: "I think the Bush administration has already faced an internal reckoning in terms of its reliance and support for Musharraf, and the repeated visits of American military commanders and intelligence officials to the country in the past six months signals that the United States is no longer going to defer to its old friend.

"But there is no new strategy."

Arkin concludes: "The quicker we can come to grips with the emptiness of the Bush doctrine, the quicker we may be able to formulate a less military-dominated approach. Pakistan will be the test case."

For background, see my Nov. 5 column, Another Bush Backfire, and my Nov. 19 column, Bush's Crush on Musharraf.

A Tale of Two Dictators

By contrast, the White House is saying good riddance to another dictator today.

Ben Feller writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush expressed hope Tuesday that the end of Fidel Castro's presidency will launch a transition to democracy in Cuba after nearly 50 years of ironclad, communist rule.

"Long a target of U.S. criticism and sanctions, the ailing Castro, 81, announced he would not accept a new term.

Here are Bush's remarks at a press conference in Rwanda today, after being asked this means for U.S. Policy: "[T]he question really should be, what does this mean for the people in Cuba? They're the ones who suffered under Fidel Castro. They're the ones who were put in prison because of their beliefs. They're the ones who have been denied their right to live in a free society. So I view this as a period of transition; that -- and it should be the beginning of the democratic transition for the people in Cuba.

"There will be an interesting debate that will arise eventually. There will be some who say, let's promote stability. Of course, in the meantime, political prisoners will rot in prison, and the human condition will remain pathetic in many cases. . . .

"The international community should work with the Cuban people to begin to build institutions that are necessary for democracy. And eventually, this transition ought to lead to free and fair elections -- and I mean free and I mean fair, not these kind of staged elections that the Castro brothers try to foist off as being true democracy."

Wiretapping Watch

Terence Hunt writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush said Saturday that lawmakers' failure to renew an eavesdropping law will make it more difficult to track terrorists and 'we may lose a vital lead that could prevent an attack on America.'

"Democrats faulted the president, who taped his weekly radio address before he left on a trip in Africa, for 'whipping up false fears and creating artificial confrontation.'"