Stop dancing with dictators, Zardari tells the US
By Anwar Iqbal Tuesday, 23 Jun, 2009 | 04:59 AM PST | WASHINGTON: In an unusually harsh article published in The Washington Post on Monday, President Asif Ali Zardari blamed the United States for the present mess in Pakistan, claiming that Washington used his country as a 'blunt instrument of the Cold War.' But in the same article, he urged his American allies to send 'immediate assistance' to help him save democracy. The tone and the content of the article surprised many in Washington, causing some to speculate if relations between the two governments were still as friendly as both say. 'The West, most notably the United States, has been all too willing to dance with dictators in pursuit of perceived short-term goals,' he wrote. 'The litany of these policies and their consequences clutter the earth, from the Marcos regime in the Philippines, to the Shah in Iran, to Mohammed Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan.' According to Mr Zardari, 'e...