WASHINGTON, June 23: The United States should resist the urge to threaten President Pervez Musharraf or demand a quick democratic transition, says the prestigious Foreign Affairs magazine in its July-August issue.

“The choice between supporting Pakistan’s army and promoting democracy has always been a false one,” argues author Daniel Markey, a senior fellow for India and Pakistan at the US Council on Foreign Relations, which publishes the magazine.

“Both are necessary. Only by helping to empower civilians and earning the trust of the army at the same time will the US successfully prosecute the long war against extremism and militancy,” says Mr Markey, who served on the US State Department’s policy planning staff from 2003 to 2007.

“Getting Islamabad to play a more effective role in the war on terrorism will require that Washington strike a careful balance: pushing for political reform but without jeopardizing the military's core interests.”

The author notes that some in Washington suggest using sanctions as a weapon to pressure Islamabad into undertaking more aggressive counterterrorism operations.

They also argue that the US should cut off Gen Musharraf and push for a transition to civilian democratic rule.

Mr Markey rejects both the suggestions, noting that if members of the Pakistani army and the Inter-Services Intelligence retain ties to militant groups, including Taliban sympathizers, “they do so as a hedge against abandonment by Washington.” The past six decades of on-again, off-again bilateral cooperation, he adds, have undermined Pakistani confidence in long-term US partnership.

“Any attempt to crackdown on Pakistan will exacerbate distrust, resulting in increased Pakistani support for jihadists; coercive threats will undermine confidence without producing better results,” says the author.

“Pakistan’s security services will not easily be cowed, sidelined, or circumvented.”

He argues that democracy is not a magic bullet as the challenges facing democracy in Pakistan go far beyond rigged elections or exiled politicians.

“The real problem with pushing for a rapid democratic transition is that genuine civilian democracy in Pakistan is an unrealistic aspiration in the near term. If the US wants to work with Pakistan, one way or another it will have to work with the army — Pakistan’s strongest government institution and the only one that can possibly deal with immediate threats of violent militancy and terrorism. “Even if a civilian regime gained power in Islamabad, it would make critical decisions only after considering the army’s interests.”