Senator Kerry quoted on Pakistan in the Times of India last week

[karynnj]

Saying that Pakistan's government should be sustained amid the chaos, Kerry said that Petraeus and Holbrooke will meet with legislators on Thursday. Kerry noted that Zardari's election was the first peaceful transfer of power from an incumbent President to the winner of an election.

Pakistan's leaders "are working very, very hard to try to reach an agreement that will bring elements of the government together in unity and allow them to go forward," said Kerry, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"Our objective, obviously, is to sustain the democracy," he added after talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. "They're getting their feet under them right now, so we need to be helpful, we need to be supportive."

Kerry spoke after Pakistan detained hundreds of activists Wednesday on the eve of a mass protest against the government, as demonstrators defied a ban on gatherings to slam President Asif Ali Zardari.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif urged the masses to take part in the four-day march to the capital, which organizers hope will mobilize hundreds of thousands of lawyers, opposition party members and civil society activists.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Washington-must-help-Pakistan-democracy-John-Kerry/articleshow/4253508.cms

This is a nice article - describing a very scary situation. Given that it is an Indian paper, I tried to parse what the POV of the author is towards the comments, but in credit to his objectivity, I can't get anything. The best I can say is that the long direct quotes show that they respect his importance.

As to the situation, it really makes me think of protests - which I always thought important whether I agree or not - in a different light. In Pakistan, they have been the first phase in violent transitions of power in the past. I hope the government succeeds in bringing the lawyers back in and unifying the country. The alternative could be disastrous.

There is an article from today linked from that page suggesting that Clinton and the state department pushed for the reinstatement of the chief judge defusing the crisis. This is good Obama administration diplomacy if we were part of that decision. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/US/US_credits_Pakistan_for_defusing_crisis_denies_arm_twisting/articleshow/4274694.cms