Pakistan says Bush admin threatened to bomb it 'Back to the Stone Age'

So much for any coalition of the willing...

Pakistan's dictator president Pervez Musharraf:

has contended that after the Sept. 11 attacks, then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Pakistan's intelligence director that the United States would bomb the country if it didn't become a partner in the war against terrorism.

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, "Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,'" Musharraf told CBS' "60 Minutes" in a report to air on Sunday.

He did, however, tell Pakistan that "you're either with us or against us." Mmmm.

Questioned about the threat while standing next to Musharraf, Bush bumbled his way through a nondenial denial [VIDEO upper right] while propping up the dictator who has recently signed a peace deal with a resurgent Taliban (not to mention a book deal with Simon and Schuster).

From the transcript on the White House website:

Q Mr. President, after 9/11, would the United States have actually attacked Pakistan if President Musharraf had not agreed to cooperate with the war on terrorism? He says that the United States was threatening to bomb his country back into the stone age.

And, President Musharraf, would Pakistan have given up its backing of the Taliban if this threat had not come from Armitage?

PRESIDENT BUSH: First, let me -- she's asking about the Armitage thing. The first I heard of this was when I read it in the newspaper today. You know, I was -- I guess I was taken aback by the harshness of the words.

All I can tell you is, is that shortly after 9/11, Secretary Colin Powell came in and said, President Musharraf understands the stakes and he wants to join and help route out an enemy that has come and killed 3,000 of our citizens. As a matter of fact, my recollection was that one of the first leaders to step up and say that the stakes have changed, that attack on America that killed 3,000 of the citizens needs to be dealt with firmly, was the President. And if I'm not mistaken, Colin told us that, if not the night of September the 11th, shortly thereafter. I need to make sure I get my facts straight, but it was soon.

I don't know of any conversation that was reported in the newspaper like that. I just don't know about it.