Tomorrow's column takes a look at the conservative split on Pakistan: the Support the Lesser Evil (Musharraf) crowd vs: Democracy Is the Answer crowd. With every day a reminder of Jimmy Carter's catastrophic abandonment of the Shah of Iran in 1978--thus unleashing jihadism in the region (and, not incidentally, empowering Ayatollah Khomeini, a far more repressive leader than the Shah ever was), I go with the Lesser Evil crowd--particularly after watching ballot-box diplomacy yield nothing but gains for radicalism across the Muslim Middle East.
    But there is more to be concerned about when contemplating Pakistani elections than precedent. Recent polls show alarmingly high support for sharia--a goal of al Qaeda, after all--and alarmingly low support for defeating al Qaeda, the Taliban and other Jihadi groups. Jeffery Imm writes more about this at the Counterterrorism Blog.