Word: pakistani
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...9/11 attacks put the Pakistani military's long-standing role in Afghanistan into conflict with its most vital strategic alliance. Pakistan had used Afghan jihadists to wage proxy warfare against the Soviet Union on behalf of the U.S. And after the Red Army withdrew and the U.S. had no interest in the outcome of Afghanistan's civil war, Pakistani security services nurtured the Taliban and shoehorned it into power, ensuring that Afghanistan was ruled by a client of Islamabad. After al-Qaeda struck the U.S., Pakistan's key ally demanded support for a military campaign to oust the Taliban...
...Pakistan for much of its history, and it was as head of that institution, and in consultation with its top echelon, that Musharraf ruled. It was only when the military leadership opted to retreat from running the government that he was forced to resign. Indeed, quite remarkably for a Pakistani leader of recent vintage, Musharraf departs from power with no serious allegations of personal corruption hanging over his head...
...urban middle class was happy to back Musharraf against domestic extremists, and they applauded his initiatives to challenge the influence of conservative Islam in education as well as the liberalization of the Pakistani media that had occurred on his watch. But the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan quickly became highly unpopular at home, and the buildup to the war in Iraq increased the alienation of broad sections of Pakistani society from Musharraf's alliance with Washington...
...pockets of the Pakistani capital yesterday, political activists took to the streets, exultantly raising chants against Musharraf. The scenes were reproduced in other major cities, chiefly Lahore, where political power lies with Musharraf's most devoted political enemy, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - the man Musharraf overthrew in 1999, who now leads the second-largest party in the coalition government. Keen observers of Pakistan's turbulent years could not help but notice the irony. When Sharif's government fell, delighted Pakistanis poured onto the streets to cheer the army's intervention. Now the tables have turned. The civilian coalition government...
...move to oust Musharraf comes at a difficult time for Pakistanis. The economy is approaching a meltdown, with inflation at 25% and the rupee falling to a record low against the dollar. There is also concern that the longer the controversy over Musharraf's fate goes on, the greater distraction it will prove from the challenges of Islamist militancy. That threat was underscored 10 days ago when fighting broke out in the Bajaur tribal agency along the Afghan border. Pakistani military jets and helicopter gunships have been targeting an estimated 3,000 armed militants in the area. More that...