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U.S. Resented For Aid To Musharraf

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By HENRY CHU, Los Angeles Times

Published: November 11, 2007

LAHORE, Pakistan - It takes almost no effort to find people who are angry with Pervez Musharraf on the streets of this bustling city. The Pakistani leader's name comes up quickly in casual conversation, yoked with unprintable adjectives and harsh denunciations of the emergency rule he has imposed.

Dig a little deeper, though, and another target of resentment surfaces: Musharraf's richest, staunchest and most powerful patron, the United States.

"We blame the U.S. directly for keeping us under the rule of the military," said Arfan Ghani, a 54-year-old professor of architecture.

Musharraf, who heads Pakistan's army, is just "another dictator," Ghani told an American reporter, "serving the interests of your country."

Musharraf's abysmal popularity rating has reached a new low after he declared a state of emergency Nov. 3. Sinking alongside it is the public image of the United States, which many Pakistanis see as the primary force propping up an autocratic ruler.

In spite of Washington's repeated assurances that it wants to help restore democracy to Pakistan, there is a strong feeling here of disillusionment with what are seen as hollow promises, and even a bitter sense of betrayal.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, when the U.S. latched onto Musharraf as a key ally in its war on terrorism, many Pakistanis welcomed American interest and largess, hoping the relationship would boost their aspirations to become a modern, prosperous, democratic society.

Six years later, the nation remains under the thumb of a military leader who seized power in a coup and refuses to announce when he will return Pakistan to civilian rule. Opposition parties remain in disarray and face harassment.

Yet the Bush administration largely has stood by Musharraf. While it chides him for decreeing emergency rule, it has refrained from imposing any real penalty, such as cutting the billions of dollars in aid that have flowed in, much of it straight into the military's coffers.

"The U.S. has never supported the people. The U.S. has always supported the leaders," said Nayab Shami, an art curator in Lahore.

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