Word: musharraf
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When it ran Afghanistan, the Taliban provided a safe haven for al-Qaeda--which had its origins among those who had gone to the region to fight Soviet forces. Pakistani government support for the Taliban officially ended after 9/11, when Pervez Musharraf, an army general who had seized power in a 1999 coup, 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...
...spent 11 years in prison on charges of corruption, extortion and the murder of Bhutto's brother (a political rival), although he has never been convicted. In April he was finally acquitted of the murder charge. Pakistani governments led by both Bhutto's rival, Sharif, and Musharraf pursued money-laundering and corruption cases against Zardari in Britain, Spain and Switzerland. All charges were dropped last fall after a controversial amnesty deal brokered by Musharraf. Zardari maintains that the charges were politically motivated. Yet unease over his credibility lingers. A text-message joke making the rounds in Pakistan says there...
That will not be easy. Zardari became President without ever having to face a popular vote (the President is chosen by parliament, which is currently dominated by his party), and he assumes an office bloated with powers bequeathed by his dictatorial predecessor. The constitution, as amended by Musharraf, grants Zardari immunity from prosecution and enables him to choose--and dismiss--the Chief of Army Staff, personally select Supreme Court judges and dissolve parliament. Under Pakistan's original constitution, these powers belonged to the elected members of parliament; the President was supposed to be a neutral national leader. With few democratic...
...Similar attacks continued sporadically, becoming more frequent in early 2008 after negotiations on the issue between the U.S. and Pervez Musharraf. The U.S. also stopped warning the Pakistani military about attacks ahead of time, as had been customary, since too many militants, it seemed, knew what was coming. The stepped-up strikes began yielding more results. In January, al-Qaeda commander Abu Laith al-Libi was killed, along with a dozen purported militants. But a May attack in Damadola, said to be targeting Algerian al-Qaeda operative Abu Sulaymen Jazairi, killed more civilians, while a July strike in South Waziristan...
...Musharraf-era Pakistani official concurs, although the idea of U.S. soldiers fighting in Pakistan is so toxic that he asked that his name be withheld for fear of political repercussions. "Quite frankly, if Pakistan has the desire to carry out an action but doesn't have the capability, asking someone else to help makes sense," he said. Selling the idea to a Pakistani public already hostile to the U.S. war on terrorism, however, will be a lot more difficult. When asked how he would promote the idea, he just shrugged and smiled. With Musharraf out of the picture, selling Pakistanis...