According to news reports, Pakistani autocrat Pervez Musharraf has decided to resign rather than face impeachment by the Pakistani parliament. A nice touch that. Makes wonder how history might be different if a few other tyrants had taken a bow rather than making a stand for their own power.

Back in November of 2007, Musharraf declared martial law; to bolster his case, he cited none other than Abraham Lincoln as precedent.
Here’s what he said at the time:

I would at this time venture to read out an excerpt of President Abraham Lincoln, specially to all my listeners in United States. As an idealist, Abraham Lincoln had one consuming passion during that time of supreme crisis, and this was to preserve the Union, because the Union was in danger. Towards that end, he broke laws, he violated the Constitution, he usurped arbitrary power, he trampled individual liberties. His justification was necessity, and explaining his sweeping violation of Constitutional limits he wrote in a letter in 1864, and I quote:

“[M]y oath to preserve the constitution to the best of my ability, imposed upon me the duty of preserving, by every indispensable means, that government―that nation―of which that constitution was the organic law. Was it possible to lose the nation, and yet preserve the constitution? By general law life and limb must be protected; yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, might become lawful, by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the constitution, through the preservation of the nation. Right or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it.”

We are also learning democracy. We are going through a difficult stage. It is the nation which is important. And for me and every Pakistani, Pakistan comes first, and anyone else’s considerations come after that.

When the chips are down, dictators always seem to stick together.

A few issues back we published an article called “The Dictator’s Favorite President” about how some of the worst tyrants of the 20th century, like Hitler and Stalin, modeled themselves on Old Abe.

We don’t know what exactly Musharraf’s resignation will mean for Pakistan or American foreign policy, or the hunt for bin Laden or anything else, but here at SP, we can’t help but wonder how much better off America, and the world, might be had Old Abe spared those millions of men, women and children who fell to the sword of Abraham.

N.B.: You can see the actual video of Musharraf’s speech here.

Tags: Lincoln, Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, Tyrants, War Between the States

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