Word: zardari
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...supposed to be a triumphant week for Asif Ali Zardari. Inaugurated as Pakistan's new President on Saturday, the sharp-suited, silver-tongued and often controversial widower of Benazir Bhutto was then to fly to New York City to make his debut on the world stage by addressing the United Nations General Assembly. Instead, he finds himself struggling to maintain his political footing in the face of contending pressures that threaten to knock him off balance...
...Still, Zardari finds himself precariously balancing, on the one hand, growing demands from Washington for more sustained and decisive action against the extremists, and on the other, widespread opposition at home to Pakistan's involvement in the Bush Administration's "war on terror." Former President Pervez Musharraf once described it as a delicate art of "tightrope walking"; the problem for Zardari is that the rope is fraying and the winds are growing fierce. According to a June poll conducted by the International Republican Institute, 71% of Pakistanis oppose Pakistan's cooperation with the U.S. against Islamist militants. For critics...
...Recent American actions have done little to make Zardari's life easier. Two days after the Marriott bombing, U.S. helicopters seeking to cross into Pakistan were repelled by gunfire from Pakistani troops and local tribesmen. An earlier ground assault in a remote village in South Waziristan had allegedly killed up to 20 civilians, and it sparked a chorus of criticism led by army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who vowed to protect Pakistan's borders "at all costs...
...problem for Zardari is that U.S. impatience with Pakistan's efforts against the militants risks undermining his government's efforts to win the allegiance of the tribes along the border in order to isolate the extremists, and to win political support more broadly. U.S. actions also complicate Zardari's relationship with the army, which has been a lot more strident in its opposition to such operations than the government has been. This has created pressure on Zardari to amplify his own opposition to U.S. attacks, which he this week termed a "violation of the U.N. charter." The Pakistani leader urged...
...Pakistan's new president Asif Zardari was supposed to have been dining at the Marriott when the bomb went off, but had decided at the last minute to eat at the prime minister's house. Had he kept to his original dinner plans, he could very well have been killed, pushing Pakistan closer to total and uncontainable chaos. By the way, there is a fairly good argument that car bombs are what keep the world's leaders from getting out and walking around, leaving them physically isolated...