Is Musharaff Going To Take Out The Taliban?

[Kathianne]

This would be great, Strata is usually pretty good:

http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/4639


My personal opinion about what is going on in Pakistan is that Musharraf is preparing for his grand finale. No, he is not attempting to grab power, he is about to take a dramatic step towards crippling the last stronghold of al-Qaeda and its leadership in the lawless tribal regions of Pakistan. My theory is Musharraf is going to do the dirty deed so Bhutto can take over once it is done. I noted a while ago how Bhutto gave Musharraf cover for calling in US forces to cleanse al-Qaeda from the tribal areas of Pakistan.

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[PostmodernProphet]

that would certainly be preferrable to the Taliban taking out Musharraf.....what is troubling is that he seems to be spending most of his time lately attacking his secular opponents......I think the original plan was for Bhutto to provide cover for Musharraf.....a coalition between the two might have had sufficient political support to maintain a majority, keeping the fundamentalists out.....but Musharraf is handling it badly.....

[Kathianne]

that would certainly be preferrable to the Taliban taking out Musharraf.....what is troubling is that he seems to be spending most of his time lately attacking his secular opponents......I think the original plan was for Bhutto to provide cover for Musharraf.....a coalition between the two might have had sufficient political support to maintain a majority, keeping the fundamentalists out.....but Musharraf is handling it badly.....

I don't think he can remain in office, he's lost the people. I think he knows it. I hope the possibility becomes real, it might bring some stability.

[carbonbased]

There is a very high level of complexity there.

Musharraf faces a serious dilemma. If Bhutto gets killed Musharraf would be held responsible. Some would say he ordered it to happen. Bhutto gets to be an instant martyr. But by not letting Bhutto move freely he now looks like an old fashion dictator. A circumstance Bhutto seems very aware of.

I think maybe those two have far too personal interests in this situation and I don't believe much good will emerge while the persons, Musharraf and Bhutto, is in focus.