Dictator Says "Iraq a Mistake"

You remember Gen. Pervez Musharraf, don't you? He's that avatar of freedom and democracy who runs Pakistan, after taking over the government in a 1999 coup. Really nice guy. Great aftershave. (I think it's Perry Ellis.) Bush prefers to called him "President" Musharraf, and likes to remind us every chance he gets that Al Qaida and other "nasty folks" are constantly trying to assassinate the Pakistani leader.

Well, this week Musharraf told Wolf Blitzer (who's a CK1 man) that Dubya's invasion of Iraq made the world less safe than it was with Saddam in power.

"But," he clarified, "Pakistan needs to improve it's economic standing with the U.S. and U.K., so we're standing by you. Allow me to introduce my minister of foreign economic investment, Doctor A.Q. Khan. He helped us get through hard times by brokering some high tech sales to Libya, North Korea, Chechnya, and Iran. He'd like to make similar deals with our Western friends."