Word: talibanize
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...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, the hosts of Osama bin Laden. Musharraf tried to bridge the gap by urging...
...military has opted to retreat from running the government in the face of overwhelming public opposition to Musharraf amid economic turbulence and mounting pressure from the West over Pakistan's role in enabling the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan. It leaves the job of governance to a cast of political leaders for whom the military brass holds a well-established contempt, but nobody doubts that if the military's red lines are crossed, it always has the option of installing a new man in khaki. The military may have already signaled the limits on acceptable civilian authority last month, when Prime...
...opinion turned against him, largely on the basis of his alliance with Washington. Moreover, the new reality in Afghanistan prompted the Pakistani security forces to begin playing what was essentially a double game. Despite its alliance with Washington, the Pakistani strategic establishment was not willing to accept the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, which was closely allied with India, as an established power in Kabul. So, despite professing support for the NATO effort in Afghanistan, Pakistan continued to serve as the Taliban's key sanctuary, and it is alleged by Washington that the ISI continues to directly aid its longtime Taliban...
Despite the cathartic effect of Musharraf's ouster, it's unlikely to bring progress on the issues that matter most to the West. A civilian President and government is unlikely to be any more effective than Musharraf in response to rising militancy or in curbing the Taliban - indeed, the government has made clear that it favors a less confrontational attitude to the Islamists than Musharraf had taken. And, as frustrating as Musharraf had been to the U.S. on issues ranging from jihadist militancy to nuclear proliferation by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan, as long as he was in power, there...
Karzai clearly believes that the growing violence in Afghanistan is the result of ISI support for the resurgent Taliban, a group whose regime was cultivated by the Pakistani spy agency until 9/11. During the past 24 hours, two waves of eight suicide bombers have attacked the U.S. base in Khost; and 10 French soldiers, part of the NATO force, have been killed in an ongoing battle near Kabul. In his interview, Karzai was sympathetic toward Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who has tried in vain to impose civilian control over the ISI. "Mr. Gilani is a good man," said...