What do you do with a country that has nuclear weapons, harbors the Taliban and Al-Qaida, and is falling into absolute chaos? Ever since the coup that brough Pervez Musharraf to power things have been getting worse. Pakistan, not the most stable of countries in the best of times, has not fared well under the current regime.

Ever since he came to power he has tried to have it both ways. He portrays himself as an enemy of the United States to his very anti American populace, while at the same time, telling the United States that if he is removed from power something far worse will be coming into power. He tells us that he's our ally while it's almost certain that he has allowed radicals to use the tribal regions of the country as a safe haven. He has allowed Islamists to come to power, that is until that kept trying to kill him.

Now he has finished the coup. The last vestiges of indepedence have been removed. The supreme court, the only place in the country that defies Musharraf politically, and was about to declare his election as unconstitutional, has been shut down as well as the press that still defies his rule.

Musharraf can't decide if he is the president or a military man, and isn't willing to give up either one. If we are fighting a war against terrorists it is not in our best interests to allow the only nuclear country in the Islamic world to fall to Islamists, which is the most likely scenario if Musharraf remains in power. His rule has strenghtened the Islamists as the legitimate opposition, and the longer he rules under the state of emergency the stronger the Islamists will get.

Pakistan is too important in this war, and it's too important to be left in the hands of an incompetent like Musharraf. The United States must do everything in it's power to restore civilian rule to the country. The two most powerful political parties have suffered under Musharraf, but they are the only real alternatives to the military and the Taliban like Islamists that have been gaining power in the country.

We cultivated a relationship with Musharraf after 9-11; perhaps it's now time to let that relationship come to an end.