IN NOVEMBER OF 1999, when he was first running for the White House, then-Texas governor George W. Bush famously flubbed a Boston TV reporter’s challenge to name Pakistan’s military chief, who had seized power in a bloodless coup just weeks earlier. “The new Pakistani general,” Bush stammered. “I can’t name the general.” He also muffed questions about the leaders of India and Chechnya, and identified then-Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui merely as “Lee.” Democrats could barely contain their giggles. “I guess we know that ‘C’ at Yale was a gentleman’s ‘C,'” quipped Gore spokesman Chris Lehane.

Bush’s lackluster results on the pop quiz obscured his vague praise for “the general,” Pervez Musharraf–praise that, in retrospect, offered a prescient clue as to how Bush’s administration would handle the Pakistani regime. “He’s just been elected–not elected, this guy took over office,” Bush said. “It appears [Musharraf] is going to bring stability to the country and I think that’s good news for the subcontinent.”