Expulsion of U.S. Envoy Sought in Pakistan

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060123/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_al_qaida_attack

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Lawmakers in northwestern Pakistan on Monday demanded the government expel the American ambassador to Pakistan in response to a U.S. airstrike that killed 13 people.

The unanimous resolution by the provincial assembly was unlikely to move the federal government to accept such a demand.

The lawmakers also condemned the Jan. 13 attack on three houses in the village of Damadola near the Afghan border and demanded an apology from the United States.

Pakistani and U.S. officials have said the attack targeted a gathering of al-Qaida leaders but Pakistan's prime minister disputed that account.

[Ron Day Voo]

1. Thanks for posting this!

It pretty much explains why we can't just go into Pakistan anytime we want to grab Bin Laden.

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Their PM held no punches yesterday on Leslie Blitzer's show...

Pakistan PM: CIA attack reports 'bizarre'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday ridiculed as "bizarre" a U.S. report that senior al Qaeda leaders were killed in a CIA attack on a home along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

"There is no evidence, as of half an hour ago, that there were any other people there," Aziz said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

"The area does see movement of people from across the border. But we have not found one body or one shred of evidence that these people were there."

U.S. counterterrorism officials have said they believe the January 13 attack killed four to eight al Qaeda-affiliated "foreigners" attending a dinner meeting. Knowledgeable sources have said that their bodies were removed from the scene by comrades and buried elsewhere.

I think Mushy's gonna have a much harder sell to the parliament in regards to Pakistani cooperation in the chimperor's war on terra.

[leftchick]

3. so who are the Paki officials siding with the US?

No one has come forward that I am aware. I would guess that is all US propaganda published as fact.

[Igel]

4. The area's controlled by the

3rd party in Pakistani politics, with a classic rejectionist oppositionist view. Even if you're neutral to something in principle, it must be propagandized against and rejected because the party in party supports it. And if there's something you don't necessarily like and the dominant party doesn't like it either, it's suddenly a pet project.

Having the PM diss the attack isn't unexpected; but he's part of the ruling coalition, obviously, the PML-Q, so it wasn't expected, either. They've had an on-again/off-again relationship to the worst parts of Pakistani retrograde society: they want the support of the Muslims without betraying many Western principles, and debate the kind of Islamic society Pakistan should be.

Musharraf can't say much about the strike; first, it's an embarrassment. His goal a couple of years ago was to root out AQ and similar militants from the NWFP and FATA, and he failed. The sectarian and ethnic rifts in Pakistani society are too deep. They're nearly fighting a war with the Bugti in Balochistan, probably over money from natural resources and factories, maybe over more. The pashtun constantly claim that there should be a pashtun state, which would cause Pakistan to disintegrate--Afghanistan would be at risk, too. The near civil war having the Pakistani army incite by going into the FATA for the first time ever halted the quasi-offensive, and merely raised the stakes from one of rooting out militants to one of honor. And you don't tread on pashtun honor.

Second, the groups there already declared war on Musharraf. What triggered Pervaiz's willingness to take action was an attack on him that nearly succeeded, and required knowledge of the details of his convoy: place, time, etc. The Islamist/triumphalist groups also have MMA backing. The MMA has decided that since having the older constitution restored, it's important; it can be altered to suit them after they have power. Musharraf's in their way. They also want shari'a instituted, and object to any change in how the Qur'aan and shari'a are taught in the public schools--dwelling on the anti-Jewish and anti-Christian passages included.

Some less extreme Muslim parties are always trying to divide the extremist Muslim vote that the MMA attracted. PML-Q is one such party, having claimed that vote in the past. They're wedged between the defenders of the faith and the more secular Muslims. They don't like Musharraf; but they fear the MMA.