September 21, 2004 ☼ Foreign Affairs
This is an archived blog post from The Acorn.
Europe went through a painful process of Renaissance and Enlightenment, and took a few centuries to do it. Pakistan on the other hand achieved both within a year. The problem is, you have to take Musharraf’s word (pardon the oxymoron) for it.
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to boast about myself,” he said, “but there is a renaissance, there is a big change we are trying to bring about.”
Though he said he had not yet decided to remain army chief beyond the Dec. 31 deadline, he asked pointedly, “How did General de Gaulle continue in uniform all through his period as president of France, and France is a democratic country?”[NYT]The humble general not only credited himself with bringing about a renaissance (as evidenced by the Hudood ordinance and the stalled reform of the madrassas) but also compared himself to a modern-day General de Gaulle. The French certainly will not be amused.
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