In the wake of Pakistan's elections, the Pakistani public and their public figures are reading the riot act to the Americans. Ouch!
Looks like War on Terror is about to take a nosedive. And that may after all be why the Pak Army allowed such elections to go through without interference in the first place. The Army are sick and tired of being cannon-fodder for a war they've been forcibly drafted into and don't support. Given their dependency on US weaponry, they themselves don't have the backbone to tell Uncle Sam to get lost -- so they've enlisted the Pakistani public to do this for them, via people-power and a popularly-elected civilian govt.
And yet while we can derive some short-term satisfaction at the US predicament, it's prudent to look ahead with concern at whether there might be a resumption in terrorism against India in Kashmir, now that erstwhile US-stooge Musharraf is on the way out, and Pakistan feels freer to do what it really wants again.
I'm still hoping that the US will continue to lean on even the elected civilian govt in Pak, to force them to toe the line, but won't bet the farm on it. After all, the elected politicos don't want to end up like Mushy, and Pak people-power is ascendant at the moment. So it's now time for another round of weird political stunts, including prescriptions for more "peace treaties" with the militants. Let's see who ends up squirming more -- Islamabad or Washington.
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