When a Boston television reporter gave then-candidate George W. Bush a pop quiz on foreign leaders in 1999, one of the names he missed was that of Pakistan’s president.
Now, few people are more important to the Bush administration than Pervez Musharraf. His efforts to quell violent protests against his government this week have put a spotlight not only on the chaos within the nuclear-armed Islamic nation, but also on how fragile Pakistan’s role has become in Bush’s war on terrorism.
There are increasing questions about whether Musharraf is effectively keeping his vow to crack down on Islamic militants, which are using Pakistan as a base to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Add this week’s political crisis, and Pakistan may have surpassed Iraq and Afghanistan as the most vulnerable front in Bush’s anti-terrorism efforts.
“There’s no way to win a war on terrorism without Pakistan’s cooperation,” says Steven Emerson, executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, a Washington-based group that tracks Muslim terrorist organizations.
Pakistan’s uncertain future symbolizes how, six years after the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration is facing tough decisions on how to protect the USA from another assault by Muslim extremists. In recent days, much of the news from the three major fronts of the war on terrorism has not been good:
Read it all.
Pakistan crisis reveals fragile ties in terror war
When a Boston television reporter gave then-candidate George W. Bush a pop quiz on foreign leaders in 1999, one of the names he missed was that of Pakistan’s president.
Now, few people are more important to the Bush administration than Pervez Musharraf. His efforts to quell violent protests against his government this week have put a spotlight not only on the chaos within the nuclear-armed Islamic nation, but also on how fragile Pakistan’s role has become in Bush’s war on terrorism.
There are increasing questions about whether Musharraf is effectively keeping his vow to crack down on Islamic militants, which are using Pakistan as a base to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Add this week’s political crisis, and Pakistan may have surpassed Iraq and Afghanistan as the most vulnerable front in Bush’s anti-terrorism efforts.
“There’s no way to win a war on terrorism without Pakistan’s cooperation,” says Steven Emerson, executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, a Washington-based group that tracks Muslim terrorist organizations.
Pakistan’s uncertain future symbolizes how, six years after the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration is facing tough decisions on how to protect the USA from another assault by Muslim extremists. In recent days, much of the news from the three major fronts of the war on terrorism has not been good:
Read it all.