May be that was the reason US making such comments?
Pak generals trying to dislodge Zardari: US
Posted: Tuesday , Nov 03, 2009 at 1218 hrs
Washington: Fearing that Obama Administration wants Pakistan Army to be brought under effective civilian control, the military generals are conspiring to dislodge President Asif Ali Zardari through democratic means and political channels.
The fear, among the generals, who have ruled Pakistan for majority of years after independence is also that Zardari with his enhanced powers of presidency might appoint generals of his choice, when the Army's present top hierarchy comes up for retirement in October next year, according to a leading US intelligence think tank.
The Pakistan military, the think tank Stratfor said sees the alignment of the Obama Administration with Zardari as further undermining its position at a time when its power within the country already has weakened because of the rise of civilian forces and a raging Taliban insurgency.
Noting that both this domestic situation and pressure from Washington have placed considerable limits on the ability of the military to dislodge civilian government, Stratfor said the military was now using its influence to help align forces against the president, to force him out of office with a veneer of legality.
"The goal is thus not to unseat the current government, but to get rid of Zardari in such a way that looks like the byproduct of a constitutional process rather than of a coup -- a return to the times when the military dismissed four different governments between 1985 and 1999," Stratfor said.
Riling up the opposition against the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) is thus a means of forcing Zardari into a corner, it said. Stratfor said the Obama administration feels that unless the army is brought under civilian control, Washington cannot deal with the region's Taliban problem.
This is because the Pakistani security establishment draws a distinction between "good" Taliban that fight in Afghanistan and "bad" Taliban that wage war in Pakistan, it argued.
Also what has antagonised the Army is the aid package for Pakistan recently signed into law recently, which calls for civilian supremacy over the military in Pakistan, and represents a bid by Washington to work with the Zardari government to rein in the Pakistani military. Stratfor said the Pakistani military as an institution has remained deeply opposed to Zardari, though it has continued to work with him.
"This is due to the fact that the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate feel no good alternative to Zardari exists capable of leading Pakistan. PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif is seen as unreliable given his past struggles with the army and his recent moves to emerge as the torchbearer for democracy," it said.
Noting that one key power of the enhanced presidency is the ability to appoint high-level army officials, the think-tank said this power will come into play when current army chief General Ashfaq Kayani retires in October 2010.
Pakistan's other four-star general, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen Tariq Majid, is due to retire at the same time, and current ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha could retire as early as March 2010.
"The Zardari government would like to use this opportunity to appoint generals of its own choice to these top military and intelligence posts, something the armed forces deem extremely unacceptable.
The military thus would like to see Zardari's departure from office before that can happen," Stratfor said.