WASHINGTON, July 9: In its lead editorial on Monday, The Washington Post blamed the present government’s misrule during the past eight years for the crisis Pakistan is facing today.

The Christian Science Monitor, however, supported the military action against the Lal Masjid militants, arguing that it may bring the final collapse of religious militancy in Pakistan.

“If the military uses wise tactics to end the siege well, civilisation will be the victor,” the paper said.

The New York Post also blamed CIA-funded Jihadi programmes against the Soviets in Afghanistan for the mushroom growth of militant groups in and around Pakistan.

The New York Times urged the United States to “disentangle itself from the sinking fortunes of Gen Musharraf.”

The Washington Post noted that the rebellion at the Lal Masjid began in January, but the Musharraf government refrained from taking on the militants until clashes erupted around the mosque last week.

“The general has had far less patience for the secular political parties and civil society groups that could be his allies in fighting the Talibanisation of Pakistan,” the newspaper observed.

The Post noted that with the election approaching, Gen Musharraf is increasingly dependent on two sources of support. One is the army and the other is the Bush administration, “which has myopically stuck to its unqualified support for this autocratic but ineffective ruler despite his slipping support and inability to deliver on matters vital to US security.”

The paper said that the fear of instability in a Muslim state with nuclear weapons caused Washington to appease Gen Musharraf but argued that this policy was “dangerously short-sighted.”

The Post claimed that the Musharraf government was unlikely to survive for long and urged Washington to reconsider its policies.

“Rather than doubling and redoubling its bet on one very shaky general, the Bush administration should insist that he begin to build a secular and democratic regime that can survive him,” the newspaper concluded.

The New York Times urged the United States to “disentangle itself from the sinking fortunes” of Gen Pervez Musharraf. “Washington needs to make clear to the Pakistani people that America is the ally of their country, not their dictator, and that the United States favours the earliest possible return to free elections and civilian rule,” the editors wrote.

Commenting on the Red Mosque siege, the Monitor wrote: “The militants showed what they were really made of: They are using women as hostages.

“And one of their leaders, senior cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz, tried to sneak out of the compound, covered in a burqa. For all of his past sermonising on keeping the sexes separate, his attempted escape in drag revealed the underlying farce of these militants”.

The New York Post noted that as the siege prolonged, many in Pakistan have started expressing doubts about the government’s strategy.

The paper said that critics see the present crisis as a “blowback from years of discreet support by military intelligence agencies for Lal Masjid's militants.”

Many Pakistanis go farther saying: “The drama is largely staged by the agencies, as they are called in Pakistan,” the paper added.

The New York Post noted that the CIA-funded programmes played a key role in training and arming the militants who now are hiding in places like the Red Mosque.

The Lal Masjid, was founded Maulana Muhammad Abdullah, was a strong supporter of those government-favoured “jihads,” against the Soviets in Afghanistan, preaching on behalf of the Pakistani and US governments and helping them recruit fighters for Afghanistan, the paper wrote.

“He was amply rewarded” by authorities who, for example, let him expand his mosque by encroaching on state lands, the paper noted.