There’s a bizarre paragraph towards the end of today’s Washington Post piece, U.K. to Help Investigate Bhutto Case, that I wanted to quickly point out. The gist of the article is that Musharaf, having power-washed away his legitimacy along with the blood and evidence in the Bhutto killing, has been forced to accept a team of “investigators” (really, they’re anti-terrorism division) from Scotland Yard. The article proceeds to explain several ways that Musharaf is suspected - by the opposition and by independent organizations - of trying to engineer the elections in his favor.

The article’s author, Griff Witte, then writes:

The president said in his address Wednesday night that he wants “free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections” for the country. To help achieve that goal, he announced that army and paramilitary troops that had been deployed in many areas last week to quell the rioting would remain in place at least until the election, and perhaps afterward.

Witte does not explain this point any further, but I’m wondering how the Pakistani military forces, which are sort of linked to GENERAL Musharaf, are going to help ensure the freedom of elections. If the military presence persists, it seems that Musharaf is being presented another opportunity to interfere in the electoral process. Why doesn’t Witte address this critical issue?