MADRAS, India -- According to an old Persian proverb, the man who digs a well ends up at the bottom of it. Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, may well be such a gravedigger.

For a long time, Musharraf appeased terror groups on his soil, hoping to win a proxy war against India. He wanted Kashmir, part of which is located in India. His military generals wanted Kashmir, and they ensured that the war with their larger neighbor continued. Only then could they justify a huge standing army and robust arms deals, whose attractive kickbacks fattened the generals.

Musharraf's clergy wanted Kashmir, and it backed terrorists who called themselves "jihadis" (holy warriors).