Pakistan as an example
The US imposed sanctions on Pakistan for 1. testing nuclear weapons 2. for the military overthrowing the civilian governement. Bush lifted those sanctions this past week. Has civilian rule returned? Have they given up their nukes? Lifting the sanctions was a bribe in return for support against Afghanistan. What are the long term implications of this kind of policy?
Pakistan is now ruled by a military government that overthrew the elected civilian government. It is very clear that a large percentage of Pakistanis want to have nothing to do with any American campaign against Bin Laden in Afghanistan. Propping up the military government is not the answer, it will only make things worse. At some point, like in Iran the government will be overthrown and the new government will be very anti-American because the US propped up the previous dictator. This has happened time and time again. The US talks alot about freedom and democracy but when push comes to shove the US supports dictators and helps them stay in power because it thinks that those dictators serve US interests. This was one of the big mistakes of the Cold War period and is being repeated again.
