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And, as usual, we have to ask why this story appears now. The spin
from Washington is the perfidy of the Pakistanis... <br>
<br>
The US has been concerned about controlling Pakistan for some time,
as part of its general policy of controlling Mideast energy
resources. (Pakistanis reject with heat the notion that their
country is part of the Mideast, but from the US POV it is: look at
CENTCOM's AOR - "Area of Responsibility".) It used Pakistan to
PROMOTE jihadism as a counter to the USSR and furthermore helped
Pakistn to develop nuclear weapons, outside th NPT.<br>
<br>
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was president of Pakistan 1977-88. After
helping to defeat the Palestinians in the Black September in Jordan
military operation in 1970, he was appointed Chief of Army Staff in
1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - whom he overthrew in a
bloodless coup d'état in 1977; two years later, he had Bhutto (the
father of Benazir "Pinky" judicially murdered. Zia's consolidted the
nuclear program, initiated by Bhutto, and promoted Islamization.
With the Carter adminstration he subsidized of the Mujahideen
movement before and during the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
<br>
<br>
Pakistan developed nuclear weapons, outside the Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT), thanks in no small measure to Ronald Reagan, who
pretended not to see what his ally was doing. This was one element
of Reagan's "unstinting support" for the "ruthless and vindictive"
dictator Zia ul-Haq, whose rule had "the most long-lasting and
damaging effect on Pakistani society, one still prevalent today,"
the highly respected analyst Ahmed Rashid observes. With Reagan's
firm backing, Zia moved to impose "an ideological Islamic state upon
the population." These are the immediate roots of many of "today's
problems - the militancy of the religious parties, the mushrooming
of madrassas and extremist groups, the spread of drug and
Kalashnikov culture, and the increase in sectarian violence."<br>
<br>
The Reaganites also "built up the [Inter-Services Intelligence
Directorate, ISI] into a formidable intelligence agency that ran the
political process inside Pakistan while promoting Islamic
insurgencies in Kashmir and Central Asia," Rashid continues. "This
global jihad launched by Zia and Reagan was to sow the seeds of al
Qaeda and turn Pakistan into the world center of jihadism for the
next two decades." Meanwhile Reagan's immediate successors left
Afghanistan in the hands of the most vicious jihadis, later
abandoning it to warlord rule under Rumsfeld's direction. The
fearsome ISI continues to play both sides of the street, supporting
the resurgent Taliban and simultaneously acceding to some US
demands.<br>
<br>
A "fundamentalist Sunni dictator," Zia died along with several of
his top generals and then-United States Ambassador to Pakistan
Arnold Lewis Raphel in a suspicious aircraft crash on 17 August
1988. Perhpas life imitated art: there were more thatn enough
elments who wanted Zia ddead (including perhaps the CIA, so a
"Murder on the Orient Express" scenario may have developed. Or it
may have been an accident.<br>
<br>
The result was large nuclear armed military state, able to thwart US
wishes in the region; the US war in AfPak is largely an attempt to
control Pakistan. <br>
<br>
On 8/24/10 8:38 AM, David Green wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:184447.23933.qm@web65408.mail.ac4.yahoo.com"
type="cite">
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font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';
font-size: 12pt;">The events surrounding Mr. Baradar's
arrest have been the subject of debate inside military and
intelligence circles for months. Some details are still
murky - and others vigorously denied by some American
intelligence officials in Washington. But the account
offered in Islamabad highlights Pakistan's policy in
Afghanistan: <strong>retaining decisive influence over the
Taliban, thwarting archenemy India, and putting Pakistan
in a position to shape Afghanistan's postwar political
order.</strong></span></div>
<div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';
font-size: 12pt;"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/world/asia/23taliban.html?_r=1">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/world/asia/23taliban.html?_r=1</a><br
style="">
<br style="">
</span></div>
</div>
<br>
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