Just who are you calling "naive" Hillary?...Let the games begin!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6926663.stmObama 'would strike' in Pakistan
Mr Obama said Pakistan must do more to end terrorist operations US presidential candidate Barack Obama has said he would order military action against al-Qaeda in Pakistan without the consent of Pakistan's government.
Awesome. Can't wait for the Pakistani press to get ahold of this.
Musharraf foe wins right to return - LATIMES, 23 Aug.
Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled Thursday that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a bitter foe of the country's president, can return from exile to lead his opposition party in parliamentary elections.
The ruling was the latest in a series of political blows to President Pervez Musharraf, an army general who has ruled unchallenged for most of the last eight years but for whom very little has gone right in recent months.
Pakistan's political turmoil is being closely watched in Washington. Musharraf, 64, is considered a crucial ally in the United States' war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but the depth of his commitment to quelling Islamic radicals has been questioned by some Bush administration officials and outside observers.
Sharif, whom Musharraf ousted in a military coup in 1999 and banished the following year, has emerged as the politician perhaps best positioned to pose a strong challenge to the president, whose popularity is at an all-time low ...
Double bombing kills at least 42 in Hyderabad - WASHINGTON POST, 25 Aug.
One has to wonder if this is aimed at undermining relations between Pakistan & India. Rapprochement with India has been one of Musharraf's principle achievements.Two bombs exploded Saturday night in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, killing at least 42 people and seriously injuring about 50, officials said.
The first bomb went off just after 7:30 p.m. in an amusement park during a laser light show, killing nine people in an area filled with families.
About 10 minutes later, a second bomb tore through a popular restaurant, according to news reports. Television images showed terrified families grabbing their children and jumping over security barriers to get out, while thick plumes of black smoke and dust clouded the air. Bloodied victims rushed from the scene of the attack, in the city's popular Kothi market.
[Two other bombs were defused in the city later Saturday, one under a footbridge in the busy Bilsukh Nagar commercial area, and another in a movie theater in the Narayanguba neighborhood, a police official said, according to the Associated Press. Late-night movie showings were canceled across the city.
["Available information points to the involvement of terrorist organizations based in Bangladesh and Pakistan," Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, where Hyderabad is located, told reporters Sunday after an emergency state Cabinet meeting, the AP reported. He did not name the groups.]
The "hidden hand"
An outrage in India comes as no great suprise as the prospect of elections loom in Pakistan.
In an odd way the re-appearance of an external threat to Pakistan could help Musharraf. Even possible American military action across the border. An external threat bolsters the role of the Pakistani army and their claim to be the national guardian.
It does not take long to find suitable suspects for such an outrage, then I am no expert on India (where a terrorsit trial recently concluded after a ten year plus trial process).
davidbfpo
Musharraf nears deal with Bhutto - Guardian, 29 Aug.
General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan president, and Benazir Bhutto, his exiled rival, have almost reached a power-sharing agreement, a minister said today.
The two have been conducting not-so secret negotiations for months on such a deal, with Ms Bhutto, who has lived outside of Pakistan since 1998, calling for Gen Musharraf to step down as head of the army and become a civilian president.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the railways minister and a close ally of the general, said the issue had been settled.
"There is no more uniform issue. It has been settled and the president will make an announcement," Mr Ahmed told a news conference.
The pressure on Gen Musharraf and Ms Bhutto, who twice served as prime minister, to strike a bargain intensified when the supreme court last week ruled that Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister overthrown by Gen Musharraf in 1999, can return from exile in London.
Mr Sharif has said he intends to go home before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, beginning in mid-September. He has been gaining popular support, whereas Ms Bhutto may have damaged herself politically in being willing to strike a deal with the highly unpopular Gen Musharraf. Behind the scenes, the US has been pushing the two to make a deal ...
Make a deal and lose?
If the Bhutto-Musharraf "deal" is finally concluded and then accepted by her party and the military - that is the first stage.
Next follows the presidential election, which Musharraf is reported as hoping will be the current national parliament and the provincial assemblies - not a direct, popular vote. Most sources suggest Musharraf can "fix" this vote, assuming that the supreme court do not intervene and the "fixers" accept the ir orders.
Then in late 2007 - early 2008 is the national, popular election for the national parliament and the provincial assemblies. When Bhutto & the PPP offer themselves to the voter, against a collection of opponents, the religious parties, Musharraf's "shell" party (PML-Q) and Nawaz Sharif & the PML.
Who will win then? Again most sources do not predict what will happen.
Is a Bhutto-Musharraf coalition a vote winner? What happens if the popular vote, with no "fixing", does not elect Bhutto?
I think Musharraf would not survive long, especially if Sharif won. Or the army "had enough" and replaced him or the elected government.
Watch and wait is one option. Ensuring a free vote in the elctions is something Pakistan's friends can help with. A election monitoring mission, not under EU / US / NATO auspices, my own preference is for a Commenwealth-led mission, with EU / US / NATO support (money).
Now back to my armchair.
davidbfpo
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