When Pakistani eyes are smiling

Bush is too easily impressed with his ability to read other men's souls...

Appearing with Bush at an East Room news conference after their session, Musharraf said he assured the U.S. president that the pact was intended to rein in extremist violence. "There will be no al-Qaeda activity in our tribal [area] or across the border in Afghanistan," Musharraf said. "There will be no Taliban activity. . . . There will be no Talibanization."

Bush said he was satisfied with those assurances. "When the president looks me in the eye and says the tribal deal is intended to reject the Talibanization of the people, and that there won't be a Taliban and won't be al-Qaeda, I believe him," he said.

Let's see. Wasn't the last time with Putin?

"I looked the man in the eye," Mr. Bush said of Putin after their meeting in Slovenia in June (2001), adding, "I was able to get a sense of his soul."

You'd think after that experience, he'd be a little more careful about looking foreign leaders in the eye.

Technorati tags: George Bush, Musharraf, Putin

Time to pressure Musharraf

Ali at Eteraz is calling us all to pressure President Musharraf of Pakistan. You may be familiar with the current sorry state of women's rights in Pakistan. To give you an idea, if a woman who was raped does not have three to four male witnesses to corroborate her story, she herself will be charged with adultery. A blind girl was convicted because she was unable to identify her assailant. The Women's Protection Act would go a long way to addressing these injustices. Ali is asking us to email President Musharraf, in whose hands the fate of the bill now rests. I have done so myself. He provides a sample text and more details if you would like inspiration or further information.