Editorial: Something much more serious than Iran

This weekend, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency and suspended constitutional law.  In a nutshell, that means martial law has been enacted.  The military cut off phone lines, shut down independent media and isolated parts of the capital of Islamabad.  Pakistan's judiciary were escorted out after the Chief Justice was fired, and the recently deposed Prime Minister spoke from exile in Saudi Arabia.

As it all boils down, Pakistan represents a much greater problem than Iran, and it is disappointing that the Bush Administration took their eyes completely off the ball in the east.  While we were busy attacking Iraq, al Qaeda and the Taliban regrouped along the border region with Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Now, terrorism is so out of control there that Pakistan's president is taking matters into is own hands, as the military regime is on the verge of falling.

Why is this significant?  Pakistan has nuclear weapons -- Iran does not.  If Musharraf's regime collapses, nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of right-wing religious fundamentalists that are staunchly anti-US.

On NBC Nightly News last night, Lester Holt outlined how serious this matter is:

Correctly, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice opposes this sudden suspension of constitutional law on the part of Bush's ally Pervez Musharraf.  However, unilateral rhetoric is not enough.  The United Nations Security Council would be wise to convene immediately.  The US has over-extended itself, and does not have the diplomatic experience at the helm of any foreign policy-related department to solve this problem on its own.  The international community needs to get involved immediately -- that means the hawkish war rhetoric on Iran needs to be put on the back-burner until this matter is defused.