Who are you to say what a "legitimate government" is and what is not???
Unless you are some kind of believer in the divine right of kings, then you must acknowledge even a rudimentary form of social contract between the governors and the governed..
However, no government is TRULY legitimate unless it is elected or has some other form of accountability to the people it governs.. A government, of the people, for the people, and by the people is more than just words to we Americans.
Any other kind of government is nothing more than a modified aristocracy, oligopoly, or kleptocracy...(and often a combination of the all three).
And, my dear Zonder, I don't feel that Musharraf is a truly legitimate government. But so long as he's not involved in committing aggression against the US, or our allies in the region, he's not our problem and we can work with him. Pakistan has a history of being an emerging democracy, but one facing many anti-democratic forces which would destroy their political system (much like the Nazis used the political process to take control over Germany).
And since Pakistan has nuclear weapons, there's not much we can do about them in the final analysis..
Fortunately, Saddam DOES NOT YET possess weapons. And we have the justification provided by Resolution 678 which provides us the ability to use "all necessary means" to re-establish peace and stability in the region.
The US can tolerate illegitimate governments and even work with them.. But let's not fool ourselves and try and claim that just because the biggest junkyard dog has dominated his rivals by force or intimidation, he's a legitimate government.
Because those other competitors are just waiting for a movement of weakness, and then they will tear his throat out and take their position.
Thus, I find it ironic that you are willing to bestow legitimacy on every uncivilized form of government, but not willing to apply the uncivilized use of force in dealing with them.
Legitimate governments in civilized nations are accountable to their people, not just to themselves and their "lead dog".
Can you taste the irony??
Hawk |
