ï"Many See Musharraf Keeping Army Post to Cement Power," by David Rohde and Salman Masood, New York Times, 18 September 2004, p. A2.

A sure sign you are stuck in the Gap: your leader is both president and top general. If you are afraid to rule politically without direct, uniformed control over the military, then you are not running a stable national system, but one always just a few steps away from a military coup (which, of course, is how Musharraf came to power five years ago).

Military leaders have been "saving" republics like that going all the way back to Julius Caesar, and the historical record is very bleak indeed.