Word: islamabad
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...three weeks ago, he cited the mounting insurgency in Swat as justification. But so far, the only threats he has been able to curb are those of a free press and an independent judiciary. "It's not that the military is unwilling," says a Western military official based in Islamabad, "but is it capable?" Security analysts fear that Pakistan's security forces lack the training, equipment and expertise to tackle the burgeoning domestic extremist insurgency. The West's most important ally in the war on terror is faltering, distracted by the political crisis in the capital and taking heavy losses...
...kind of counterinsurgency training that the military lacks," says the military official. "There has got to be a strong information campaign to go along with the kinetics [military force]. Fazlullah has a FM station? Jam the damn thing. They sure as hell can jam stations here [in Islamabad], so why can't they do that up there...
...many Pakistanis, however, elections with or without emergency rule won't make much of a difference. "The army was ruling before the emergency, and still it is ruling," says toy salesman Yair Khan. "Pakistan is in a continuous state of emergency." Many in the bazaars of Islamabad's slum areas share his indifference. While politics in Pakistan are often waged in the name of the poor, few in the lower classes feel that they have anything to gain. "The main rule of thumb in Pakistani politics is that everyone safeguards their own interest first. No one really cares about...
...halfhearted opposition to Musharraf, pointing out that while other leaders and lawyers languished behind bars, she was able to roam free, host diplomatic receptions and broadcast her press conferences on state-run TV. But when Bhutto called for protest rallies and a march from Lahore to the capital, Islamabad, she too was placed under house arrest. The final straw, she says, was when Musharraf's forces rounded up thousands of her supporters across the country in advance of the planned march. "It left my party with the conclusion that he does not really want to do business with...
...Stephen Cohen, a South Asia expert and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "He is either suicidal or totally ignorant of the situation." Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have both telephoned Musharraf and urged him to ease up. Rice is sending her deputy, John D. Negroponte, to Islamabad to try to hold the general to his promise to step down as army chief at the end of November, lift the emergency degree and hold elections in early January. Negroponte will also try to revive the Musharraf-Bhutto deal, but some in the Administration recognize that can no longer...