Posted on 12/28/2007 10:15:06 PM PST by HAL9000
Excerpts -
~ snip ~Bhutto told this reporter two weeks before she flew home on Oct. 18 about her plans to flush the Taliban and al-Qaida out of FATA. She wanted to open up FATA to the country's principal political parties to compete with a coalition of six politico-religious parties, known as Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, now the only ones allowed to campaign there. The objective was to wean Pashtun tribesmen from MMA, Taliban and al-Qaida control. This was to be done in conjunction with some $750 million in U.S. aid already authorized to bring basic improvements to mountain villages that haven't changed much since the water-bearers in Rudyard Kipling's "Gunga Din."
Still unclear in Bhutto's thinking was how to keep Taliban fighters at bay while modernity worked its magic. The two Pakistani provinces that border the Afghan frontier -- Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier province -- are still governed by the MMA coalition of Taliban sympathizers.
~ snip ~
Bhutto also talked to me, not for publication, about the Taliban in Afghanistan, which she considered a no-win situation for U.S. and NATO allies unless the Taliban and al-Qaida could be eliminated in the FATA tribal agencies. She didn't like the idea of allowing U.S. Special Forces to cross the unmarked border into Pakistan. "But we may have no other choice," she conceded, albeit off the record.
~ snip ~
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
Musharraf is the most pivotally important man in the world right now . He has been for quite some time , and we should be backing him .
Northwest regions of Afhganistan and Pakistan + massive deployment of neutron bombs = a distinct improvement.
If Musharraf expects our support, he'd better make a similar accommodation.
It’s a very delicate balance , that apparently only Musharraf has been able to handle thus far .
Who’s to say he hasn’t made similar accomodations ? I suspect he has gone way out of his way risking his own life to accomodate us . There have been several attempts on him as well ...
Bhuttos ideas are what got her US support for her return to power. I can’t imagine how this went down with the Pakis, 45% of which support al-Queda.
Forcing Bhutto down Pakistan’s throat was a huge blunder. Got her killed ... and that was no surprise. And, the State Dept. fools expected her to establish a DEMOCRACY!
Musha is the only one we should be supporting. After him the deluge.
He'd accommodated the USA if he could. But the reality is once the US Army starts working on Taliban areas (20% of the country) the other 80%, along with the nukes, fall to the Pakistani mullahs (who raised and taught the Taliban to begin with.)
And I read what Mike said that it isn't an excuse. Well, this just betrays lack of political skill on Mike's part. He wants the whole problem solved, right now, or else! He can want all he wants, but those are the cards, and your choice of moves is limited. Musharraf is not a nice guy to be sure, but he is a very good politician who managed to keep the lid on that mad kettle for so many years and hardly killing anyone. This is why every country in the region supports him, openly or not - they have no choice. Mike threatening him just sounds silly and proves what many suspected about him.
He pardoned A.Q. Khan, the worst nuclear proliferator in history. He gave al-Qaida and the Taliban a safe haven in the tribal areas for nearly a year, and allowed them to grow stronger. And without Bhutto, he may not survive. He may have to flee the country at some point. Propping up a guy who won't survive doesn't make much sense, and we don't want a situation in Pakistan like post-Shah Iran. We need to be thinking two jumps ahead.
Well, this just betrays lack of political skill on Mike's part.
He's obviously a skilled politician, but he lacks foreign policy experience. It is definitely his weak point. It's a common problem for governors who run for president. Bush had the same problem during his first campaign.
Did ally Pakistan play role in 9-11?
1999. On Dec. 24, five Pakistani nationals armed with knives hijacked Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 from Katmandu to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Led by Sunny Ahmed Qazi, alias "Burger," the hijackers slashed the throat of one of the 178 passengers, a honeymooner, and forced pilots to open the cockpit door.Burger demanded the Indian government release three Pakistani terrorists from prison in exchange for the airline hostages. After an eight-day stand-off, New Delhi agreed to free Ahmed Omar Sayeed Sheikh among the three. Sheikh turns out to be one of Osama bin Laden's chief money men. About a year before the Sept. 11 attacks, Sheikh wired $100,000 from Pakistan to Atta from an account in the United Arab Emirates capital of Dubai. Sheikh was spotted in Islamabad at the time the money was transferred. The $100,000 covered the hijackers' flight-school tuition and airfare, as well as living expenses. Sheikh picked up an unspent residual of more than $25,000 from Atta and three other hijackers in Dubai right before the attacks, then fled back to Karachi, Pakistan.
According to accounts in both The Times of India and India Today, former ISI chief Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmad instructed Sheikh to send the $100,000 to Atta.
The Times says Ahmad lost his job only after India shared with the FBI evidence showing a link between the general and Sheikh's wiring of funds to Atta.
Be that as it may. But if it was the Taliban and/or Al Qaeda that got Bhutto, they can probably get him as well. And if they don't the mobs may.
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