1. The Pakistanis created and propped up the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
2. Along with the monstrous dictatorship in Myanmar, Pakistan is China's strongest ally in South Asia, and one of China's best allies worldwide. There are clear indications that China provided Pak with the material/expertise necessary to create nuclear weapons.
3. Pakistan has funded and equipped radical Islamic terror groups in Kashmir which are slowly purging the state of anyone who is not Muslim. These groups train in the camps the Taliban (read: Pakistan) set up in Afghanistan.
4. There have been many indications since this war started that Pakistan has continued to supply the Taliban. There are also indications that Pakistan is undermining US efforts to create an inclusive government for Afghanistan by betraying opposition leaders inserted in Afghanistan (Abdul Haq).
Mussharif presided over Pakistans continued creation and funding of the Taliban, continued terror in Kashmir and the Kargil incursion a few years ago, and Pak's continued cozy relationship with China. But now, you think he and Pakistan are suddenly against terrorism and the Taliban and are friends of America? Get a clue.
Pakistan is only cooperating with us under durress. Remember the speech he made to the Pakistani people? 'The existance of our nation is at stake?' You better believe America knows the Taliban is a Pak creation, and we let them know right quick after 9/11 that they either cooperate with us, or get taken out.
You're right, the anthrax letter in this article doesn't prove anything, but taken in context, it's an 'indicator' that shouldn't be ignored.
So do I - but regarding your point about the Pakistanis creating the Taliban, that happened before Mushareef came to power.
You're right, the anthrax letter in this article doesn't prove anything, but taken in context, it's an 'indicator' that shouldn't be ignored.
Well, we can safely ignore it, since subsequent tests on the letters have revealed that there was no anthrax on the letters in question.
Though that does depend on the definition of "government" - most non-Western countries do not have governments anywhere near as centralized as Western ones. It is fairly common in undeveloped/lesser developed countries for a particular ministry or bureaucracy to be controlled by one faction while other, conflicting, factions control other ministries/bureaucracies.
China is a good example of this. The ministry which exports weapons and nuclear weapon proliferation technology/equipment is controlled by a different "alliance" of factions within the Chinese hereditary aristocracy (the Thousand Princes) than those which control the trade and foreign ministries.
Getting back to Pakistan, we know that at least President Musharraf and his associates are trying to help us against Al Qaeda. How successful they will be remains to be seen. There are encouraging signs that a new lineup of factions along ethnic and tribal lines, as opposed to religious lines, is emerging, notably the traditional one of the Indus Valley lowlanders against the mountain barbarians aka the Pushtun tribe.