CRAWFORD, Texas — Running for president, George W. Bush couldn't name the new leader of Pakistan. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, Pervez Musharraf became a crucial but ultimately frustrating ally in the war against Islamic extremists. The embattled Musharraf, who resigned Monday, angered his countrymen by siding with the United States. He disappointed Washington by failing to be tougher with Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan's lawless northwest border region. He pledged support for democratic reforms in Pakistan, yet it was Musharraf's dictator-like actions that eventually unraveled his nearly decade-long rule. "Bush came to call him the indispensable man," said Bruce Riedel, a senior adviser to three presidents on Middle East and South Asian affairs. "In the end, he also became the man who couldn't deliver. Bush was very...
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