Only Mush is capable of fighting war on terror: US
Karachi,
Nov
20:
Pakistan
President
General
Pervez
Musharraf's
international
support
maybe
on
the
wane
in
the
wake
of
his
decision
to
impose
an
emergency
across
the
country,
but
the
stark
reality
is
that
what
matters
to
Washington
is
Islamabad"s
ability
to
take
the
"War
on
Terror" to
its
logical
conclusion.
There is a view in the White House and at Foggy Bottom" (the U.S. State Department) that the the very pro-Western Vice Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, will not be able to independently deliver on this front.
Therefore, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte's two meetings with Kiyani and a 30-minute telephone conversation with Bhutto at the weekend only emphasized the concerted efforts to bring all liberal and democratic forces into line for the fight against terror.
The Bush Administration is banking on Musharraf as the only person who has what it takes to fight the "War on Terror", no matter what the cost.
Although Musharraf has drawn flak from the US for not being hard or energetic enough in cracking down on militancy and al-Qaeda elements, he has allowed several US air strikes in Pakistan.
Thousands of people have been held without trial, some of them handed over to the US, and when the courts challenged him, he silenced them.
Simply put, even his strongest critics, like US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, accept that the "War on Terror" could be a serious casualty as a result of any regime change in Pakistan in the current circumstances.
ANI
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