Pakistan’s President, General Pervez Musharraf, once referred to his uniform as a “second skin.” In Pakistan, where the military is the most powerful institution and where generals have ruled longer than civilians, that skin is a symbol of supreme authority. But on Wednesday, yielding to pressure from his own people as well as from his strongest ally, the U.S., Musharraf shed his uniform. In an emotional ceremony at military headquarters in Rawalpindi, a tearful Musharraf handed the baton to a loyalist, General Ashfaq Kyani, saying, “I have loved this army.”
Musharraf is just making a strategic retreat, however. His departure from the military clears the way for him to take up a second five-year term as President, and wins him points both at home and abroad. But praising Musharraf for stepping down as army chief is akin to praising the honesty of a thief, who, having stolen and broken a priceless vase, returns it in pieces, with apologies.
Musharraf took power in a military coup eight years ago, vowing to stay on only as long as it took to stamp out corruption and repair the economy. He has delivered somewhat on both fronts. But his other major pledge
