As a matter of hardheaded realism, not just pro-democratic ideology, President Bush should pressure Pakistan's military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, to hold free elections this year. That's because, perhaps sooner than later, the increasingly unpopular Musharraf could go the way of the Shah of Iran, who was toppled by Islamic extremists. And also, Musharraf's leading Democratic opponent, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, says she would do a better job than Musharraf in fighting the resurgent Taliban that's menacing Afghanistan.

"As prime minister," Bhutto told me in an interview, "I'd control the tribal areas of Pakistan," where Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding and the Taliban is ascendant. "I did it before, when the drug lords were in control and I'm confident I can clear out the Taliban." Opposed to the hostile relationship that Musharraf maintains with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Bhutto adds that, "a democratic Pakistan would help Afghanistan stabilize, relieving pressure on NATO troops."

Bush late last month dispatched Vice President Cheney to Pakistan to read the riot act to Musharraf about rising Taliban infiltration into Afghanistan, reportedly warning that Democrats in Congress might cut off aid to his regime if he was not more aggressive. In fact, House Democrats, as part of their first "100 days" homeland security bill, conditioned future military aid to Pakistan on Bush's certifying that Musharraf was making "all possible efforts" to oust the Taliban from his country, but the provision was pulled from the Senate bill at the administration's request.