Word: sovietizers
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Pakistan, a country of 173 million people that encompasses dusty plains, sublime mountain peaks and some of the world's most densely populated cities, has rarely been a placid place since it became an independent nation in 1947. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Islamabad, with U.S. and Saudi funding, sent thousands of men across the border to join Afghans in fighting the Soviets. The Pakistani military used religious schools in the borderland to train and equip Afghan mujahedin and to heal them when they returned. More than 3 million Afghan refugees took shelter in Pakistan's cities...
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...
...that, and patience. Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which had the unwitting effect of yoking Pakistan's fortunes to those of the U.S. Do not be surprised if--even with skillful diplomacy, generous aid and appropriate military assistance--it takes another generation for that strange partnership to become one from which both partners believe they benefit...
...Ethnic Divide I partly agree with Andrew Purvis' Briefing on Georgia [Sept. 1]. However, on the question of the two ethnic entities now not being able to live side by side any time soon, one must remember that toward the end of the former Soviet Union the South Ossetians had a degree of autonomy. It was the new Georgian government that unilaterally revoked this autonomous status. So, at a moment of crisis, what should Russia have done but come to the rescue of its people (although in military terms the way it was done was definitely disproportionate)? I wonder what...
...Zardari, during his inauguration ceremony, swore to protect his country's sovereignty, a U.S. Predator drone launched five missiles at a suspected militant compound near the border with Afghanistan. The compound belonged to Jalaluddin Haqqani, one of the most notorious Afghan Taliban commanders based in Pakistan and a Soviet-era ally of the CIA. The Predator strike missed Haqqani, but it did kill four midlevel al-Qaeda operatives, government and militant sources told the Associated Press. It also killed as many as eight children, one of Haqqani's wives and a sister...