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2003-11-10 India-Pakistan

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Posted by rg117 2003-11-10 3:17:16 PM|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 "I think itâs harder - these groups may be harder to go after than al-Qaeda and the Taliban, because they have a fair amount of domestic support"

thats the crux of the matter - pushing Perv really hard to stop the infiltration into Kashmir, would likely lead to a break between Perv and the ISI and segments of the military. Could lead to a coup, civil war, or collapse. Are we willing to risk that NOW, with US forces tied up in Iraq, Iran edging toward something, Afghanistan still only part way stabilized and lots of AQ still on the loose. I dont think so.

Posted by liberalhawk 2003-11-10 3:25:11 PM|| 2003-11-10 3:25:11 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 I think itâs harder - these groups may be harder to go after than al-Qaeda and the Taliban, because they have a fair amount of domestic support" thats the crux of the matter - pushing Perv really hard to stop the infiltration into Kashmir, would likely lead to a break between Perv and the ISI and segments of the military. Could lead to a coup, civil war, or collapse.

Precisely - Musharraf is someone who has helped us before - we don't need him replaced with an anti-American general or mullah. Another point is that we are pushing on a string - if we pressure him, he could just as easily decide to side with the mullahs and the jihadist elements of his military. (What people don't realize* is that Musharraf doesn't actually have to work with us - if we give him enough reason to do so via sanctions, he can easily decide to start working against us - his survival does not depend on our support - it depends on the support of his political and military establishment). If he does that, are we going to go to war with Pakistan?

* in their simplistic assessment of American omnipotence

Posted by Zhang Fei 2003-11-10 3:39:25 PM|| 2003-11-10 3:39:25 PM|| Front Page Top

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