Not sure if this has already been posted or not, but worth a read:
Pak Army’s patience will not last forever: WSJ
Masood Haider
Friday, 27 Feb, 2009 | 12:35 AM PST |
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A supporter of Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif waves a party flag after he, along with others, burnt a police vehicle during a demonstration in Rawalpindi.—AP
A supporter of Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif waves a party flag after he, along with others, burnt a police vehicle during a demonstration in Rawalpindi.—AP
NEW YORK: ‘I think there's a lot of patience in the services right now to let the civilian government take its course, but the patience won't last forever but it will last for a long time,’ the Wall Street Journal quoted a senior ISI official as saying Thursday in the aftermath of political crisis which emerged in Pakistan following the disqualification of Sharifs by a Supreme Court Bench.
‘For now, there appears little prospect that the powerful military, which has ruled Pakistan for much of its 62 years as an independent nation, will intervene,’ the Journal said, adding ‘Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the army chief and a veteran soldier, is determined to focus on fighting the militants and staying out of public life,’ quoting senior civilian and military officials and Western diplomats who often deal with him.
The WSJ observed ‘Mr Zardari has proved willing to back down on policy changes that Gen Kayani opposes. In November, Mr Zardari announced that Pakistan was adopting a ‘no first strike’ policy for its nuclear arsenal. It was a drastic change from the military's long stance of refusing to rule out a nuclear first strike, a strategy designed to keep larger rival India off balance. Pakistan's top military brass was livid.’
The newspaper warned ‘Pakistan's mounting problems not only worry the new administration of US President Barack Obama they also have contributed to a sharp decline in President Asif Ali Zardrai’s approval ratings. Recent opinion polls indicate the president's approval rating has sunk to a level near that of Pervez Musharraf, the widely reviled former general ousted from the presidency by Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif last summer.
The WSJ noted: ‘Even Mr Zardari's relationship with his handpicked prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, has become strained of late, several government officials say’. Associates of Mr Gilani say the prime minister has grown frustrated at Mr Zardari's failure to fulfill his promise to reduce the presidency to its traditional role as head of state, allowing the prime minister to take a bigger role in decision-making and appointments.
Western officials say they view Mr Zardari's record of government to date as mixed. They credit him with keeping the military focused on fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda and providing intelligence to aid missile strikes on the militants by US drone aircraft.
His position is a risky one because of the widespread outrage in Pakistan over the attacks.
Gen Kayani immediately called Mr Zardari to say Pakistan's nuclear doctrine was ‘irreversible’. The policy of vagueness was restored.
Underscoring that ‘Mr Zardari is emerging as a divisive figure at a time when Pakistan faces a rising Islamist insurgency and a stuttering economy,’ the newspaper observed ‘the widower of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is alienating both allies and foes. Even his personal style has turned off supporters of his wife —some of whom serve in his government but are now reluctant to deal with him directly. At meetings in recent months, according to several witnesses, he lashed out at senior ministers, calling one a ‘witch’ and another ‘impotent.’