Deal with militants emboldens opposition (Pakistan)

[bemildred]

Source: Asia Times

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The premier Islamic party - the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) - has taken a lead role in a campaign by lawyers to have Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the chief justice who was sacked in 2007 by president General Pervez Musharraf, reinstated. The JI believes this volatile issue could boost its popularity in urban centers.

In this atmosphere, Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani travels to Washington this week for meetings with senior officials aimed at protecting the US's plans for the region.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan captured the mood succinctly during a television talk show. "God is great! Richard Boucher and Condoleezza Rice set up a coalition of secular and liberal parties to block the march of Islamization and the Taliban. ... That setup has single-handedly enforced Islam and led to a signed agreement with the Taliban."

This is a clear defeat for the American war in the region, but nobody is ready to accept responsibility, with the Pakistani coalition government criticizing the army for not taming the militants. The Barack Obama administration now faces the prospect of an unending stream of fighters entering Afghanistan from Pakistan without obstruction.

Read more: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KB24Df04.html

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If you want to understand how thoroughly the Bushites have screwed the pooch in Afghanistan/Pakistan, this spells it out.

[acmavm]

1. WOWEE ZOWEE! Maybe we can fight both the Taliban in

Afganistan and the nutballs in Pakistan too! The more the merrier.

:sarcasm:

[cosmicone]

2. What opposition? They are all one and the same

The entire Pakistani establishment lives by terrorism. Unless the Paki military and ISI are severely weakened, there will be no end to this.