Bush To Musharraf: "Take Off Your Uniform"

President Bush personally told Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday that he must hold parliamentary elections and relinquish his post as head of his country's army.

"You can't be the president and the head of the military at the same time," Mr. Bush said, describing a telephone call with Musharraf. "I had a very frank discussion with him."

Mr. Bush revealed the call to Musharraf during an appearance with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at Mount Vernon, the Virginia home of the first U.S. president, George Washington.

Since Musharraf declared emergency rule on Saturday, the White House has faced repeated questions about why Mr. Bush was taking a relatively soft line against Musharraf for the crackdown and had not spoken directly to the Pakistani leader, a man he has called a friend he trusts.

"My message was that we believe strongly in elections, and that you ought to have elections soon, and you need to take off your uniform," Mr. Bush said.

Sarkozy agreed on the need "to have elections as quickly as possible" in Pakistan.

Careful not to go too far in rebuking a close anti-terrorism ally, the Bush administration's response to Musharraf's actions has been mild. It stands in sharp contrast to the administration's tougher stance taken when Myanmar's military regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in September, for instance.

"There is a difference," Mr. Bush said. "Pakistan has been on the path to democracy. Burma hasn't been on the path to democracy. It requires different tactics to achieve the common objective."

On Capitol Hill, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Musharraf is an "indispensable" ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism and that "partnership with Pakistan and its people is the only option."

In prepared testimony, Negroponte also told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that administration officials "strongly disagree" with Musharraf's crackdown on his political opponents.

"We strongly counseled against emergency rule, but Pakistan's leadership did not follow our advice," Negroponte said.

While he acknowledges an ongoing review of U.S. aid to Pakistan in light of the crisis, Negroponte does not announce any changes to U.S. policy.

Musharraf "has been indispensable in the global war on terror, so indispensable that extremists and radicals have tried to assassinate him multiple times," Negroponte said. "The bottom line is, there's no question that we Americans have a stake in Pakistan."

Negroponte also urged Musharraf to follow through with commitments to convene elections and relinquish his position as Army chief.

"The current state of emergency calls into question these commitments, but we should work to achieve their fulfillment, not preemptively write them off," he said.

Negroponte faces a skeptical Democratic-led Congress. Many lawmakers say the U.S. should consider cutting off foreign aid to Pakistan and that Musharraf shouldn't be so readily praised.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, planned to offer a resolution condemning Musharraf's actions, while others said military aid should be withheld.

"We have the worst of all possible worlds," said Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., who chairs the panel's subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia. "Our ally is an isolated and deeply resented leader who is less popular with his own people than Osama bin Laden."

The White House defended its handling of the situation.

"It's been about five days," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "I grant you that it feels long for all of us who are interested in wanting to get instant reaction. We are trying to get Pakistan back on its path to democracy."

The Bush administration has been reviewing U.S. aid to Pakistan in the wake of Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule. Musharraf says his actions, which include suspending his country's constitution and ousting its top judge, were necessary to prevent a takeover by Islamic extremists.

The Bush administration is seeking $800 million for Pakistan for the current budget year. Since 2001 the U.S. has provided Pakistan with an estimated $9.6 billion.

At the Pentagon, a senior officer on the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters that the U.S. military puts great value in its relationship with the Pakistani military and does not want to see that diminished.

"First and foremost is the cooperation along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan," said Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs. "Those military operations, conducted by forces on either side of the border, are done with increasing openness, collaboration, synchronization. There's good communication between U.S. and Afghan forces on the one side and the Pakistan forces on the other. And we would certainly not want to see that jeopardized in any way."

Ham said that U.S. military liaison officers in Islamabad have reported that communication and cooperation with the Pakistani military on operations along the Afghan border have not been affected by the political crisis.

"Those contacts seem to be quite good still," Ham said.

A senior member of Musharraf's legal team said Wednesday that the United States is more worried about fighting terrorists than about seeing democracy flourish in his country.

Ahmad Raza Khan Qasuri, an advocate at Pakistan's Supreme Court, also warned the U.S. that "we expect from our friends advice, not dictation. We are a sovereign country."

"Do we ask for a checklist from the United States, 'Why did you go to Iraq? Why did you go to Afghanistan?"' he said at the Middle East Institute. "The United States, instead of dictation, they should give us friendly advice."