"For the Bush administration, there is no Plan B for Pakistan."
Citing US officials operating in the Pakistan policy arena, this is the prognosis of veteran Washington Post reporters Robin Wright and Glenn Kessler in Sunday editions of the paper. The Post ran the story on page 24.
Kessler and Wright paint a US foreign policy unchanged by the assassination of erstwhile prime minister Benazir Bhutto, one aimed at propping up controversial strongman Pervez Musharraf -- and lone pro-US leader in the country -- with hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. Next year, the US will begin a five-year, $750 million plan intended to bring jobs and security to restive border regions.
"Despite anxiety among intelligence officials and experts, however, the administration is only slightly tweaking a course charted over the past 18 months to support the creation of a political center revolving around Musharraf, according to U.S. officials," the reporters write.
"Plan A still has to work," a senior administration official involved in Pakistan policy told the paper. "We all have to appeal to moderate forces to come together and carry the election and create a more solidly based government, then use that as a platform to fight the terrorists."Bush's policy remains "wedded" to Musharraf despite warnings from experts and others who say his dictatorial methods are "untenable," they say. The Pakistani president recently deposed Supreme Court justices who would no go along with his plans.
more at link:
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Bush_Administration_has_no_Plan_B_1230.htmlWho'da thunk it. No Plan "B". Stay the Course.
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