Word: fata
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...pledged to assist the U.S. war on terrorism. But not everyone was on board. Some in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency (ISI) played a double game, turning a blind eye when members of the Taliban leadership and al-Qaeda escaped to Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border with Afghanistan. FATA's ungoverned spaces provided the ideal sanctuary for militant groups on the run. Musharraf made a halfhearted attempt, at Washington's behest, to stop the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda from waging insurgency across the border. But that only inflamed tensions; the Afghan militants...
...combined to make the governability of Pakistan and the character of its latest leader matters of intense concern far from the mountains of the Hindu Kush. Al-Qaeda has "hundreds of training camps" scattered throughout the region, says a Western official in Pakistan. CIA director Michael Hayden has called FATA an al-Qaeda "safe haven" that presents a "clear and present danger to Afghanistan, to Pakistan and to the West in general, and to the United States in particular." So the question becomes: How dangerous is Pakistan now--and does Zardari have what it takes to make it safer...
...Director Michael Hayden called the FATA an al-Qaeda "safe haven" that presents a "clear and present danger to Afghanistan, to Pakistan and to the West in general, and to the United States in particular." Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, says, "If I were going to pick the next attack to hit the United States, it would come out of FATA." Intelligence officials in the region, and abroad, say that al-Qaeda operatives, taking advantage of the limited reach of government, have been able to set up sophisticated communications systems, financial networks and training...
...Most FATA people want development, but not at the expense of their traditional ways. Shari'a law is the foundation of their justice system and few will willingly give it up. Rather than a wholesale elimination of the FCR, there should be a gradual transition, says Haider Mullick, a former Brookings analyst. "It's not rocket science. It's sitting down with them and saying, O.K., here are 100 things that are different from how we operate in Islamabad. We will concede on some of these issues. But there are going to be some no-nos on our side...
...infrastructure. It's a welcome move, but opening up the U.S. market to Pakistani products such as textiles would provide a longer-term - and taint-free - solution. The chorus among businessmen and analysts across the country is "trade, not aid." The U.S. presence in Pakistan, particularly in the FATA, is viewed with suspicion. American Predator drone attacks on apparent al-Qaeda targets have claimed scores of civilian lives, and the Pakistani military presence in the FATA is seen to be at the behest of the U.S. "There is so much resentment in our blood now that even if you give...