[The Friday Times] As the drama orchestrated by Mansoor Ijaz unfolds in Islamabad, President
Asif Ali President Ten PercentZardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
appears to be the in a weak position. He has lost his trusted aide in Washington DC, Husain Haqqani, in what looks like a head-on collision with the powerful military establishment.
President Zardari is not known to be a big risk-taker, people close to him say. He tries to keep the people who matter happy. And so far he has been rather successful. Advisers who idealize the 1986 return of Benazir Bhutto
... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in...
to Pakistain and her passionate speeches tempt Zardari to venture where he should not. But he is wise.
Sources privy to the recent developments say the military establishment wants more heads to roll. They have a list of people they dislike, and demand they be shown the door. Prominent among them are Interior Minister Rehman Malik
Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men.
and Pakistain's Ambassador to the United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hassan.
If national institutions really are on a collision course, the collateral damage may include democracy, as has been seen in history. Whether the People's Party government will complete its remaining term will depend primarily on how the president and his aides will behave.
Some in the military establishment were surprised when Memogate made headlines world over. They had believed President Zardari followed the policy of "live and let live". And although they are ready to give President Zardari another chance, they will remove some of his "anti-army" aides in key slots. They will be discreet, however, and not leave the slightest evidence they were behind such moves.
"If they control corruption and their governance is effective, this would be the best political dispensation the military establishment could ever work with," said a defence official requesting anonymity.
| They have a list of people they dislike. Prominent among them are Rehman Malik and Wajid Shamsul Hassan |
... aka
Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five...
's popularity. The regional situation is fragile, he said, and they would certainly not want to get caught up in domestic politics at the risk of another embarrassment.
Political analysts say
Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
might be a feasible option for the military establishment if he proves his loyalty. His move to take the government to the Supreme Court over Memogate was well orchestrated. The PPP is likely to respond with a counter strike. And it is not difficult to predict who will collect most of the chips from the messed-up poker table.
Meanwhile,
...back at the scene of the crime, Lieutenant Queeg had an idea: there was a simple way to tell whether Manetti had been the triggerman -- just look at his shoes!...
the military establishment has made it clear any decisions on ties with the US would need a nod from the GHQ in future. It believes the relationship with the US is its domain, and did not welcome Husain Haqqani's intrusion.
Analysts believe the military establishment would not allow Ambassador Haqqani to go back to DC in his previous capacity even if the Supreme Court declares him innocent.
Last month's fatal NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
strike on a Pak border post has angered the military, and it wants clear answers to critical questions about the future of Afghanistan after a large number of US troops leave in 2014.
| Army believes the relationship with the US is its domain, and it did not welcome Husain Haqqani's intrusion |
The government has claimed trucks carrying supplies for NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
troops in Afghanistan have caused a Rs50 billion loss to Pakistain's road infrastructure each year, and Pakistain will ask NATO to compensate for that loss. NATO containers were also exempted from customs duty and only had to pay a small toll tax.
General Ashfaq Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
's security paradigm is India-centric, and the army believes a Hamid
Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a
Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
-style government in Kabul after the US withdrawal would be detrimental to Pakistain's interests. It has asked the politicianship to ensure the US would help Pakistain secure both its eastern and western borders.