Washington's word

WHILE greeting President Asif Zardari on telephone after his swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, President Bush pledged full support to Pakistan in its efforts to meet the challenge of terrorism, but his spokeswoman expressed her confidence that President Zardari would do what was right for the country "regardless of public opinion." The blatantly undemocratic advice, openly tendered, by the country that is never found wanting to praise the absolute necessity of adopting democratic principles sounds, in the first flush, quite bizarre. But then Mr Bush has for long been ignoring the majority view in the US on the unjust war in Iraq and one could not have expected anything better from the White House spokeswoman; rather, where American interests are involved, the US is known for not bothering about matters like the popularity of rulers or their policies.