Reply #4: It Is, Ma'am, A 'Can't Tell The Players Without A Score-Card' Situation, Unfortunately [View All]

[The Magistrate]

I make no claim to fine-grain knowledge of the place, and it would be necessary to know who the speaker was, and what faction he is aligned with, to get a full sense of what he pressing for. It is certainly true that the fighting has a destabilizing effect on Pakistan, and this is of great concern to moderate political figures, of the wing that aligns with the pre-Musharref political structures, typified by the Chief Justice recently restored to office. But for the I.S.I., maintaining the struggle in Kashmir is the predominant aim, and in this, both the domestic jihadis of Pakistan, as well as the Taliban and al Queda, have been and are still invaluable assets.

Musharref is being caught in a vise, assailed both from his 'religious right' and his 'bourgeois left'. The quashing of the 'Red Mosque' militants was an attempt to check the former and placate the latter, but it does not seem to have helped him much in either direction. Things are pretty near the point where our patronage is of no use to him at all, if not already at it. It is hard to foresee a good outcome to the situation.