"In the Line of Fire: A Memoir" by Pervez Musharraf

This is a very interesting book to read right now (December 2007), although it was written more than a year ago, as Mr.Musharraf is all over the news again, having stepped down as a military dictator and holding the first democratic elections in Pakistan in years. Probably the single worst thing about the book is that most of it follows an apologetic tone, defending the actions of Musharraf and portraying them the best and only right ones to take at that moment, a statement with which many independent observers would thoroughly disagree. Another distracting thing is the style in which it is written. It is obvious that the book was dictated to a scribe, and not directly by Musharraf, as the sentences are simplistic and colloquial, with a very basic grammatical structure, and yet we find quite a few 'GRE' words scattered around, which stand out and distract the reader, being obviously placed there by the subsequent editors who wanted the book to sound more scholarly.

The book starts with Musharraf describing his family's escape from Delhi during the first Indo-Pakistani war, and reaching Karachi safely, which could not be said for many who were massacred right on the trains, both Indians and Muslims, going in both directions. He describes his early childhood in Karachi and after that in Turkey very vividly, and probably this is the best and least controversial part of the book. He describes himself as not particularly book-smart (an honor which was reserved for his brother), but street smart kid, who got into lots of fights, did lots of mischief, and was even a gang leader in Karachi.

After the return from Turkey Musharraf embarks on a military career, and progresses quickly through the ranks, mostly based on his physical strength, stamina, and comradeship with his soldiers. He is very emotional about the wars with India, and never misses a chance to point out how Pakistan beats India all the time, in all kinds of conflict, which gets kind of repetitive and boring after the first few time, regardless of if it is true or not. A very emotional and crucial formational moment for him is the separation of East Pakistan and it's independence as the state of Bangladesh, for which he rightfully blames the then Pakistani leader, but most of his rancor is directed towards India, and their role in the process. This very open hostility pervades the whole book, starting from cricket matches and ending with the Kashmir question, which Musharraf always refers to as the 'Kashmir's fight for freedom' and calls the Kashmir's mujahedeens, which the whole world sees as terrorists, "freedom fighters".

Musharraf had problems with authority and discipline and was expecting to retire as a Brigadier-General, if it wasn't for the last Pakistan's Prime Minister decision to make him Army Chief of Staff, in order to change and anger the previous Chief of Staff. However, the relations between the new chief of staff and prime minister did not develop well, and the Prime Minister tried to prevent the landing of Musharraf's plane, on a return from foreign visit, thus nearly killing him due to lack of fuel. This was used as a pretext for Musharraf and his supporters withing the army to execute a coup d'etait and take over power in Pakistan.

The further chapters of the book describe the self-proclaimed achievments that Mushrraf achieved since his coming to power, which include some less controversial ones like improving the economy and the corruption situation, but others that are highly disputed like another war with India that he lost according to all observers except himself, and shady dealings with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and its own religious extremists at home. This part of the book would probably be most burdensome to a western reader as it is written in openly bombastic and self-laudatory style that can hardly pass even for good Public Relations effort.

The War on Terror and Pakistan's role in it is another part which is very interesting to the western reader, and although there is much valuable information, lots of things are left unsaid or distorted, like the statement from the US saying that if Pakistan doesn't cooperate with the war they will 'bomb them back to the stone age' which some observers point out was formulated because of the Pakistani intelligence agency's involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Musharraf writes on in great detail about the hunt for suicide bombers networks in Pakistan, and attempts on his life, but glosses too lightly over the wider Muslim extremists elements in Pakistan which make the country such a fertile ground for wannabe martyrs.

The book concludes with an optimistic view of the future of Pakistan, of course, under Musharraf's leadership, and somewhat disparaging diatribe about democracy and why the western-style democracy is not applicable to Pakistan. Although an amusing read, this is not the best written book, or full of objective information, but it gives a curious window into the mindset and personal views of one of the last modern dictators.