Jun 16 2008 - Times Union, Albany NY
Tensions are building between the U.S. and Pakistan's new government, which last week blamed American troops for killing 11 government soldiers during an air strike along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border. U.S. troops defend their action.
The standoff is yet another reminder of the fragile relationship with a government that has the power to hunt down the remnants of the Taliban and al–Qaida, who had regrouped in largely ungoverned tribal areas along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border. If only it had the will.
Sep 07 2008 - Washington Times
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (AP) – The death toll in a massive suicide blast in Pakistan's militant–plagued northwest reached 35, officials said Sunday, as the country prepared for Benazir Bhutto's widower to take over as president.
Sep 07 2008 - Washington Times
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AP) – Two American diplomatic outposts in Pakistan received envelopes containing an unknown white powder last week, sparking a security scare, a U.S. Embassy spokesman said Sunday.
Sep 06 2008 - San Francisco Chronicle
Pakistan's military says 24 people have been killed after residents of a village in the volatile northwest foiled a militant kidnap attempt, then were attacked.
Scores of injuries have also been reported in the clashes late Friday and early Saturday in Tehsil Matta.
Sep 03 2008 - Washington Times
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AP) – Snipers fired on the motorcade for Pakistan's prime minister on Wednesday as it drove to the airport to pick him up, striking his car window at least twice, officials said. Neither the prime minister nor his staff were in the vehicles.
Aug 31 2008 - San Francisco Chronicle
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) ––Fighter jets bombed Taliban hide–outs in Pakistan's troubled northwest while troops pushed into militant territory on the ground, killing at least 40 insurgents in a 24–hour siege, the army said Saturday.
Aug 28 2008 - Washington Times
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (AP) – A bomb blew a bus carrying Pakistani police and government workers off a high bridge Thursday, killing eight, as fighting between security forces and extremists flared across the country's northwest.
Aug 27 2008 - Washington Times
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AP) – Security forces clashed with militants across Pakistan's wild tribal belt Wednesday, trading fire with insurgents in a health center and repelling a major assault on an outpost in a region known as an al–Qaida safe haven.
Aug 26 2008 - Washington Times
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (AP) – Gunmen opened fire on the top U.S. diplomat in northwestern Pakistan early Tuesday as she left for work in her armored vehicle, police and embassy officials said. No one was killed in the attack.
Aug 25 2008 - Seattle PI
One aspect of the improving security situation in Iraq is a missing part: al–Qaida. The terrorist group's reduced presence is a comfort to Iraqis and, to an extent, this country.
Leaving Iraq doesn't mean the larger terrorist threat from al–Qaida and associated groupings of fanatics is necessarily reduced. A remote refuge in Pakistan could breed trouble far beyond Pakistani cities and neighboring Afghanistan.
Aug 25 2008 - Washington Times
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AP) – Pakistan banned the Taliban on Monday, toughening its stance after the Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for deadly suicide bombings against one of Pakistan's most sensitive military installations.
Aug 23 2008 - Washington Times
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (AP) – Pakistani troops pounded Islamic militants in the volatile northwest Saturday, killing 37 in retaliation for suicide attacks that have put pressure on the new government to counter a growing extremist threat.
Aug 22 2008 - Washington Times
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AP) – Pakistan's military says it has killed up to 16 militants in a clash in the northwest. The dead included at least one suicide bomber.
Aug 21 2008 - Washington Times
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AP) – Twin suicide bombings at a massive weapons factory near Pakistan's capital killed at least 50 people Thursday, dashing hopes for an end to turmoil following Pervez Musharraf's ouster as president.
Aug 20 2008 - San Francisco Chronicle
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) ––Pakistani officials say missiles have struck a suspected militant hideout near the Afghan border.
Aug 20 2008 - Seattle PI
by MARY DEJEVSKY
Nothing in his presidency, it might be said of Pervez Musharraf –– as of a select band of national leaders before him –– became him so much as his leaving it. Deciding to resign rather than face impeachment hardly counts as a noble act. But the dignity with which Musharraf bade farewell merits a more respectful and considered reaction than it is likely to receive.
In many Western countries, the gut response in liberal intellectual circles could be summarized as "good riddance." In their view, Pakistan's president could never be the civilian politician he tried to pass himself off as after winning re–election last November. He would always be the ambitious army general and chief of staff who snatched power in a military coup nine years ago.
Aug 19 2008 - Seattle PI
by THE INDEPENDENT
Despite the drama surrounding Pervez Musharraf's lengthy resignation address, there was nothing particularly surprising about the Pakistani president's departure. The truth is that Musharraf was doomed the moment his political base was wiped out in February's parliamentary elections. The former general's support in the country dried up some time ago, and the new coalition government was determined to use the impeachment process to get rid of him. This was a beleaguered politician bowing to the inevitable.
What has defined Musharraf's rule more than anything else has been his relations with the West since the terror attacks of 9/11. He presented himself as the world's sheriff in a volatile region, a stance that won him billions of dollars in U.S. military aid. But doubts about the soundness of this investment have been creeping in over the years. Despite some early success in capturing some high–level al–Qaida operatives, Musharraf has been unable to secure Pakistan's western border.
Aug 19 2008 - Seattle PI
by SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
People in Pakistan are lined outside shops to buy their favorite delicacy. "We have run short of sweets, especially laddoos," Asim, a salesman at Fresco Sweets in Islamabad, told the Indo–Asian News Service about the traditional sweet that is distributed on joyous occasions, such as Pervez Musharraf's resignation as president.
This is not the first time sweets have been distributed to a population hoping for better days. There were similar celebrations following the removal of Field Marshal Auyub Khan in 1968 and when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's government was removed by the military in 1977. Only the promises of reform dissolve as fast as the sugar treats.
Aug 19 2008 - Washington Times
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, PAKISTAN (AP) – A bombing outside the emergency gate of a hospital crowded with Shiite Muslim mourners in Pakistan's volatile northwest killed at least 23 people and wounded 15 Tuesday, officials said.
Aug 19 2008 - Investor's Business Daily
by INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
War On Terror: Conventional wisdom says Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's forced resignation robs the West of a key strategic terror ally. Truth is, he was a reluctant ally at best.
Let's hope his exit will force the new democratically elected government to focus on the Islamist threat that only grew larger on his watch.
Musharraf stepped down to avoid impeachment charges nine years after taking power in a military coup. The general abused his power by sacking a supreme court justice and dozens of other judges who dared rule that he had to remove his uniform and hold free elections as promised.
Aug 18 2008 - Washington Times
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AP) – The resignation of Pervez Musharraf removes a favorite bogeyman of Islamic militants both in and outside of Pakistan, but the government that forced him out is unlikely to change the policies that keep the jihadists fighting.
