Emergency Rule in Pakistan

It is the biggest frontline U.S. ally in President Bush's war on terror, and today Pakistan is in a state of emergency. Constitution suspended. Elections postponed. Supreme Court chief justice fired. Streets full of police. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of protestors and opponents of Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, are under arrest.

Critics call it martial law. Washington has shipped billions to Musharraf since 9/11, and urged him not to take this step. He did it anyway.

Al Qaeda lives in Pakistan. So do nuclear weapons, and many dreams. Now this.

This hour, On Point: what Pakistan's state of emergency means.Guests:

David Rohde, reporter for The New York Times in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Husain Haqqani, director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University and an advisor to former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.

Adil Najam, professor at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, columnist for The News International, an English-language newspaper in Pakistan, and founding editor of the blog pakistaniat.com.

Anthony Cordesman, expert in national security strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.