30/12/07

Olmert: Bhutto victim of extremist Islam
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 12/30/2007
Prime minister tells cabinet Israel must continue to assist countries fighting ’intolerance, extremism’, denounce assassination of democracy-seeking leaders – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the onset of Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting that Benazir Bhutto “was a victim of extremist and fundamental Islamic terror of the kind we are so familiar with.” While those behind last Thursday’s assassination of the Pakistani opposition leader have not been identified yet, the prime minister seemed convinced Islamic militants were to blame. “Bhutto believed in freedom and democracy and fought for these values in Pakistan,” Olmert told cabinet. “She returned to her country in order to get elected democratically, but she fell victim to extremist Islamic terror. “We must denounce this phenomenon of assassinating democracy-seeking leaders who battle extremism and intolerance.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3488235,00.html

The Destabilization of Pakistan
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, Globalresearch
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto has created conditions which contribute to the ongoing destabilization and fragmentation of Pakistan as a Nation. The process of US sponsored “regime change”, which normally consists in the re-formation of a fresh proxy government under new leaders has been broken. Discredited in the eyes of Pakistani public opinion, General Pervez Musharaf cannot remain in the seat of political power. But at the same time, the fake elections supported by the “international community” scheduled for January 2008, even if they were to be carried out, would not be accepted as legitimate, thereby creating a political impasse.
www.uruknet.de/?p=39670

Pakistan: Dangerous And Violent Nonsense In Wake Of Bhutto Assassination
Winter Patriot
The dangerous nonsense coming out of Pakistan has reached seemingly impossible new levels of absurdity in the wake of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in Rawalpindi on Thursday. [Seemingly impossible? Maybe. But the bar has been raised yet again, and this piece has been updated (twice) with even more absurdity than the absurd original.] The government’s story of how she died changed twice in the first 36 hours after her death, and now they don’t want to talk about it anymore. Their story of who did it has only changed once, and that’s all they want to talk about. In short, the Bhutto’s party — Pakistan People’s Party — blames the government, and the government blames the terrorists. Which terrorists? Who cares! But if they could be connected to al Qaeda, so much the better…
www.uruknet.de/?p=39668

Good may emerge from disaster
Sydney Morning Herald – Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
He has been part of a tribal insurrection in South Waziristan, on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has bogged down 100000 Pakistani troops and …
www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/good-may-emerge-
from-disaster/2007/12/30/1198949671168.html

Roger Cohen: Bhutto’s death on America’s watch
International Herald Tribune – France
Second, Al Qaeda has turned some of its attention from Afghanistan to the richer rewards of upending Pakistan. “My sense is Al Qaeda might be losing…
www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/30/opinion/edcohen.php

US should redeploy troops from Iraq to fight in Pakistan and …
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States should redeploy troops from Iraq, allowing the military to focus on terrorist threats in Pakistan and Afghanistan, New York Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand said Saturday.
dailyjournalonline.com/articles/2007/12
/30/news/doc4776f73a6841f046854721.txt

US congresswoman proposes troop redeployment from Iraq to Pakistan …
By Aimon Fatima
WASHINGTON, (Xinhua) — The US troops in Iraq should be redeployed to Pakistan and Afghanistan to focus on fighting terrorist threats there, a US lawmaker said on Saturday. The House Representative from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand, …
www.naitazi.com/2007/12/30/us-congresswoman-proposes-
troop-redeployment-from-iraq-to-pakistan-afghanistan/

Korea Cannot Ignore Bhutto’s Assassination
Chosun Ilbo – Seoul,South Korea
She also claimed ignorance of the fact that Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bombs, had transferred nuclear technology to North Korea …
english.chosun.com/w21data/
html/news/200712/200712310006.html

Bhutto’s Son and Husband Named Party Leaders
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123007A.shtml
According to The Associated Press, “Benazir Bhutto’s 19-year old son was chosen Sunday to succeed her as chairman of her opposition party, while her husband will serve as co-chairman, extending Pakistan’s most famous political dynasty to another generation.”

FOCUS | Pakistan Polls Postponed, Rioting Continues
From Islamabad, Pakistan, The Times of India reports: “The election commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to postpone the January 8 polls in view of the situation in the country after the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and will announce new dates for national and provincial assembly elections on Monday, a senior official of the commission said,” while The New York Times’ Laura King reports: “President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday expressed determination to restore law and order after the country was racked by a third day of riots and looting that have killed dozens of people since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.”
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123007Z.shtml

They Don’t Blame Al-Qa’ida.
They Blame Musharraf
By Robert Fisk
Yesterday, our television warriors informed us the PPP members shouting that Musharraf was a “murderer” were complaining he had not provided sufficient security for Benazir. Wrong. They were shouting this because they believe he killed her
www.countercurrents.org/fisk301207.htm

Anglo-American Ambitions Behind The Assassination Of Benazir Bhutto
By Larry Chin
The assassination of Bhutto appears to have been anticipated. There were even reports of “chatter” among US officials about the possible assassinations of either Pervez Musharraf or Benazir Bhutto, well before the actual attempts took place
www.countercurrents.org/chin301207.htm

Bhutto, Bush, And Musharraf
By John Chuckman
America gave Ms. Bhutto a blessing and a gentle push, likely a bundle of cash, and undoubtedly the promise of lots of future support, to return home as opposition to Musharraf. One could fairly say that her assassination just proves how little Washington policymakers understand the region. It sent her to her death, desperately hoping against hope to get what it wanted
www.countercurrents.org/chuckman301207.htm

Who Assassinated Bhutto?
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Only the time will tell what will be the repercussions of her assassination on national politics in the long term but one thing can be said with some certainly that her murder will foment Sindhi nationalism and provide a new ammunition to the Sindhi nationalist movements with separatist leanings. If this happens, it will not be a good omen for the federation
www.countercurrents.org/ghazali301207.htm

Hope For Pakistan
By Mike Ghouse
Let Pakistan recover from this severe blow to their democratic process, and make sure there is a genuine welcome of our help, and offer it unconditionally
www.countercurrents.org/ghouse301207.htm

Pakistan’s power brokers consider options
Seattle Times – United States
By Kim Barker and Laurie Goering Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrives at the residence of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in Naudero, Pakistan, …
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nati
onworld/2004099317_pakistan30.html

Rioting rocks Pakistan as officials weigh election delay
Boston Globe – United States
Nawaz Sharif (center, white sleeves), now Pakistan’s most prominent opposition figure, visited the political stronghold of Benazir Bhutto to lay a wreath on …
www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/12/30/
rioting_rocks_pakistan_as_officials_weigh_election_delay

Far from case closed in Pakistan
Los Angeles Times – CA,USA
Fires set a day earlier in Karachi, Pakistan, continue to burn. The streets were filled with police and protesters on the second day of a three-day mourning …
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-
fg-assess30dec30,0,5176533.story?coll=la-home-world

Hillary: Pakistan troops might have killed Bhutto
Newsday – Long Island,NY,USA
BY GLENN THRUSH | glenn.thrush@newsday.com December 30, 2007 CLINTON, Iowa
– Hillary Rodham Clinton waded into Pakistan’s volatile internal political…
www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/
ny-ushill305519568dec30,0,1049812.story

In pictures: More Pakistan unrest
BBC News – UK
There has been renewed violence in Pakistan in the wake of the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. Across the country vehicles have been …
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7164540.stm

Pakistan at Standstill as Discord and Unrest Grow
Washington Post – United States
By Griff Witte KARACHI, Pakistan, Dec. 29 — Nationwide rioting brought life in Pakistan to a standstill Saturday and forced government officials to …
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/
2007/12/29/ST2007122901861.html?hpid=topnews

Pakistan Rejects Outside Bhutto Probe
The Associated Press –
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan rejected an outside investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on Saturday, despite controversy over the …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jIE0IU
n4WIiaMBpjG8SI_6H5RXzgD8TRIKC00

Pakistan crisis hangs on Bhutto party
AFP –
NAUDERO, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistan’s political future hung in the balance with Benazir Bhutto’s party deciding whether to pull out of planned elections amid …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hYL2V3How91UxlYX63vo9MhiEcjQ

Pakistan can survive latest chaos and bloodshed: analysts
AFP –
ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Born from chaos and bloodshed, and still steeped in turmoil 60 years on, Pakistan has repeatedly defied predictions that the centre of the …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jFl83YRpVis1RD8F9Y1o_lCZfjjQ

Pakistan to Cricket Australia: make sure tour is on
NEWS.com.au – Australia
PAKISTAN is urging Cricket Australia to do everything it can to ensure its tour to the troubled nation goes ahead. Australia is due to play three Tests, …
www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22987806-1702,00.html

One Murder Closer To A Nuclear Nightmare In Pakistan
By News Editor
Bizarrely, the Pakistan government asserted that her death was more like a grisly accident than an assassination – that the former prime minister died when the blast from the bomb threw her sideways and she smashed her head on the metal …
www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/30/one-
murder-closer-to-a-nuclear-nightmare-in-pakistan/

Pakistan Update: Of Gunfire, Grassy Knolls and Bumped Heads
By matttbastard
Intelligence services in Pakistan and the West yesterday identified Baitullah Mehsud, a 34-year-old pro-Taliban militant commander, as the man behind the plot to kill Bhutto, leader of the popular Pakistan Peoples Party, in the run-up …
commentsfromleftfield.com/2007/12/pakistan-
update-of-gunfire-grassy-knolls-and-bumped-heads

Najum Mushta: Islam and Pakistan
From its Cold War role as a bulwark against the irreligious, evil empire of the Soviet Union to its status as a major non-NATO ally in the post-9/11 war on terrorism, Pakistan has flaunted its various religious credentials. …
hnn.us/roundup/entries/45931.html

Bhutto & Pakistan
By Umar Farooq (Pakistan)
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, founder of Pakistan Peoples Party was a diplomat of a highest stature and of great charisma. While some claim his rule to be of immense censorship, others considered him to be the greatest leader of Pakistan after …
www.mideastyouth.com/2007/12/29/bhutto-pakistan/

Pakistan Update: Of Gunfire, Grassy Knolls and Bumped Heads
By matttbastard
Intelligence services in Pakistan and the West yesterday identified Baitullah Mehsud, a 34-year-old pro-Taliban militant commander, as the man behind the plot to kill Bhutto, leader of the popular Pakistan Peoples Party, in the run-up …
bastardlogic.wordpress.com/2007/12/29/pakistan-
update-of-gunfire-grassy-knolls-and-bumped-heads/

US congresswoman proposes troop redeployment from Iraq to Pakistan
Xinhua – China
29 (Xinhua) — The US troops in Iraq should be redeployed to Pakistan and Afghanistan to focus on countering terrorist threats there, a US lawmaker said …
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/30/content_7340579.htm

Pro-Taliban fighters deny Bhutto killing link
Aljazeera.net
The commander of a pro-Taliban group in Pakistan has told news agencies by phone that Baitullah Mehsud, another pro-Taliban figure, denies any involvement in Benazir Bhutto’s death. Maulana Omar said on Saturday: “He [Mehsud] had no involvement in this attack. This is a conspiracy of the government, army and intelligence agencies.” A Pakistani official had said on Friday it had evidence that Mehsud was responsible for the death of Bhutto, a former prime minister…
www.uruknet.de/?p=39645

New video of Bhutto gunman
The Age, Australia
A Pakistani television station released footage early today claiming that opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was shot dead by an assassin before an accomplice detonated a suicide bomb, contrary to official government claims. The new, exclusive images from the Pakistani-based DawnNews TV show a young gunman, wearing sunglasses and dressed in a light-brown sports jacket, firing at Bhutto as she stood atop the sunroof of her white security Range Rover following an election campaign rally in the city of Rawalpindi on Thursday. The footage clearly shows Bhutto collapsing into her armoured-vehicle before the suicide blast, contradicting official government claims that she recoiled only after the blast and cracked her skull on the sunroof…
www.uruknet.de/?p=39659

Palestinian, Israeli leaders mourn death of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2007
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is reverberating in Palestine andIsrael, three days after her death, with both Palestinians and Israelis claiming to have had her support. Palestinian lawmaker, democracy activist, and academic Hanan Ashrawi said on Friday that Bhutto “certainly was a very brave woman, who stood for democracy despite lots of obstacles — social, societal, and even personal. She steered the course for democracy and against any extremism and violence”. Bhutto, a twice former Prime Minister who had recently returned from exile to contest elections slated for January, was assassinated on Thursday in after a political rally in the city of Rawalpindi. Israeli officials, meanwhile, maintain that if elected, Bhutto would have acted to improve relations with Israel.
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=26934

Pakistan A Failing Nuclear Power
Washington (UPI) Dec 28, 2007 – Pakistan is one of the world’s eight nuclear powers and the first one to be categorized as a failing state. Not failed yet, but on its way, and the world’s major powers are powerless to correct the downward spiral. Some U.S. presidential hopefuls — e.g., New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — are calling on President Pervez Musharraf to resign. At this juncture, such a resignation would …
www.spacewar.com/reports/Pakistan_A_Failing_Nuclear_Power_999.html

White House confident Pakistan nuclear arsenal is secure
by Staff Writers
The White House on Friday said it was confident that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal was secure and did not risk falling into extremists’ hands after the assassination Thursday of Benazir Bhutto.
www.spacewar.com/reports/White_House_confident_
Pakistan_nuclear_arsenal_is_secure_999.html

Pakistan’s nuclear weapons safe, despite unrest: analysts
by Staff Writers
New York (AFP) Dec 28, 2007
The chance of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of Islamic militants is slight, even if unrest persists in the wake of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s death, US analysts said.
www.spacewar.com/reports/Pakistans_nuclear_
weapons_safe_despite_unrest_analysts_999.html

Analysis: Mixed legacy for Bhutto
Washington (UPI) Dec 28, 2007 – Benazir Bhutto embodied the best and worst of South Asian politics. She was a charismatic leader who inspired and gave hope to millions of her people, only to disappointment them with the difficult-to-shake stench of corruption; the first woman leader in a Muslim country, she was emblematic of the region’s proclivity toward dynastic politics. Bhutto was buried Friday, a day after she wa … more
www.spacewar.com/reports/Analysis_
Mixed_legacy_for_Bhutto_999.html

Analysis: Pakistan hurt by Bhutto killing
Washington (UPI) Dec 27, 2007 – The reported killing of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto shows the continued strength of Islamists and paralyzes Pakistan’s political system, at least in the short term. “Her killing threatens Pakistan’s existence because she was very popular, especially in the Sindh region,” Anwar Iqbal, Washington correspondent for Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, told United Press Internation …
www.spacewar.com/reports/Analysis_
Pakistan_hurt_by_Bhutto_killing__999.html

Analysis: Pakistan’s grim year
Washington (UPI) Dec 28, 2007 – It has been a grim year for Pakistan. Since the start of 2007 the country has experienced 54 suicide terrorist attacks, including two Thursday, one of which killed Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister and leader of the Pakistan People’s Party. Bhutto was a leading contender in January elections. There have been five attacks this month alone, lifting the annual average to a fraction o …
www.spacewar.com/reports/Analy
sis_Pakistans_grim_year_999.html

Analysis: Who killed Bhutto
Washington (UPI) Dec 27, 2007 – Just before her return to Pakistan in October, Benazir Bhutto told UPI Editor at Large Arnaud de Borchgrave the names of men she believed were out to kill her. “I have been informed that Baitul Masood, an Afghan, Hamza Bin Laden, an Arab, and a Red Mosque militant have been sent to kill me,” she said in an e-mail message written just prior to boarding a flight to Pakistan ending her sel …
www.spacewar.com/reports/Analysis_Who_killed_Bhutto_999.html

Analysts disagree on threat to Pakistan nuclear arsenal
London (AFP) Dec 28, 2007 – Experts in Britain disagreed Friday on how likely it was that extremists could get their hands on Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Some analysts have raised fears that instability following Bhutto’s killing Thursday could lead to unrest which would open the door for weapons to fall into the wrong hands. Professor Paul Wilkinson, chairman of Saint …
www.spacewar.com/reports/Analysts_disagree_
on_threat_to_Pakistan_nuclear_arsenal_999.html

Analysts say Pakistan facing worst crisis in history
by Staff Writers
Islamabad (AFP) Dec 28, 2007
Pakistan faces the worst crisis in its modern history after the killing of Benazir Bhutto, an attack aimed at destabilising the nuclear-armed Islamic nation and wrecking planned elections, analysts said.
www.spacewar.com/reports/Analysts_say_
Pakistan_facing_worst_crisis_in_history_999.html

Yes, Extremists Killed Benazir Bhutto. But Which Extremists?
Winter Patriot
…Who killed Benazir Bhutto? It could have been anybody. She betrayed everybody except the Americans who wanted her to return to Pakistan, and for all we can tell she may have secretly betrayed them as well. But motive isn’t everything; Who could have penetrated the deep security? In accepting this power-sharing enticement from the Americans, she betrayed her own party, straight into the hands of Musharraf. Is this fact relevant? I wouldn’t be surprised….
www.uruknet.de/?p=39640

Bhutto assassination heightens threat of US intervention in Pakistan
Bill Van Auken, WSWS
With Pakistan erupting in violence over the assassination of its former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and amid conflicting accounts as to both the identity of her assassins and even the cause of her death, official Washington and the American mass media have coalesced around a version of events that has been crafted to suit US strategic interests. Without any substantive evidence, the crime has been attributed to Al Qaeda, while Bhutto herself has been proclaimed a martyr both in the struggle for democracy in her own country and in the US “global war on terror.”…
www.uruknet.de/?p=39632

Canadians warned to avoid travel to Pakistan 29 Dec 2007
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada is warning Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Pakistan. The warning was issued Friday, the day after Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.
www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html
?id=d843e347-7def-48d1-ba36-ac20b83e391f

Pakistani election still US priority [ROFL!! Too bad everyone else’s elections are a US priority, but having a legitimate election in the US is not on the agenda.] 28 Dec 2007
The Bush dictatorship is counting on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf going ahead with upcoming parliamentary ‘elections’ despite Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in the hope they will cement steps toward restoring democracy implementing a police state.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071228/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_pakistan_52

Qaeda Network Expands Base in Pakistan 30 Dec 2007
The Qaeda network accused by Pakistan’s government of killing the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is increasingly made up not of foreign fighters but of homegrown Pakistani militants bent on destabilizing the country, analysts and security officials here say. [Gee, we better get Blackwater and DynCorp in there quickly to restore democracy! BTW, whatever happened to the five billion-plus dollars Bush has given to Pakistan since the 9/11 terrorist attacks?]
www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/world/asia/30pakistan.html

U.S. gave Bhutto intelligence on dangers she faced 29 Dec 2007
In the weeks before Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, the Bush administration directly provided her with intelligence on dangers she faced from militants in Pakistan, as U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf resisted pressure to expand the scope of her security detail, U.S. lawmakers and other officials and Bhutto supporters said Friday.
www.latimes.com/news/printedition/fron
t/la-fg-security29dec29,1,1777872.story

Pakistan government skips autopsy, shifts story on how Bhutto died 28 Dec 2007
Violence and recriminations grew Friday over the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as Pakistan’s government changed its account of how she died while her supporters charged that the government withheld personal protection she’d requested. As deadly protests continued to rage on Pakistan’s streets, the country’s Interior Ministry said that Bhutto — buried Friday without an autopsy — had died after she was thrown against the lever of her car’s sunroof, fracturing her skull.
www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/23884.html

Clinton calls for probe of Bhutto killing 28 Dec 2007
Democrat Hillary Clinton called on Friday for an international probe of Benazir Bhutto’s killing. “I don’t think the Pakistani government at this time under President Musharraf has any credibility at all,” Clinton said in an interview with CNN as she campaigned across Iowa. “Therefore I am calling for a full independent international investigation.”
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071228/pl_nm/usa_politics_dc

They Don’t Blame al-Qa’ida. They Blame Musharraf
By Robert Fisk
Weird, isn’t it, how swiftly the narrative is laid down for us. Benazir Bhutto, the courageous leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, is assassinated in Rawalpindi – attached to the very capital of Islamabad wherein ex-General Pervez Musharraf lives – and we are told by George Bush that her murderers were “extremists” and “terrorists”. Well, you can’t dispute that.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18971.htm
 
Anglo-American Ambitions Behind the Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the Destabilization of Pakistan
By Larry Chin
The Pakistani election, if it takes place at all, is a simpler two-way choice: pro-US Musharraf or pro-US Sharif.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18969.htm

Rioting in Pakistan continues:
Nearly 50 people have been killed since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. President Musharraf vows to restore order after a third day of violence.
snipurl.com/1w263
 
Pakistan TV station shows Bhutto shooter, contradicts government:
The footage clearly shows Bhutto collapsing into her armoured- vehicle before the suicide blast, contradicting official government claims that she recoiled only after the blast and cracked her skull on the sunroof.
snipurl.com/1w266
 
Pakistan rejects foreign help in Bhutto investigation:
Pakistan rejected foreign help in investigating the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on Saturday, despite controversy over the circumstances of her death and three days of paralyzing turmoil.
snipurl.com/1w26t
 
Benazir Bhutto: US Policy Causes World Terrorism :
Condemning what she called “A False Choice for Pakistan”, the late Benazir Bhutto laid “terrorism” at the White House doorstep, blaming US policies for causing, fueling and inspiring what US regimes call “terrorism”.
snipurl.com/1w26v
 
Bolton: US ‘helped precipitate’ conditions for Bhutto’s assassination:
John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations, said it was a mistake to collaborate with Bhutto’s “desire to get back into the game in Pakistan” and view her as an alternative to the country’s current leader, Pervez Musharraf.
snipurl.com/1w26y
 
Fighters deny Bhutto killing link :
Maulana Omar said on Saturday: “He [Mehsud] had no involvement in this attack. This is a conspiracy of the government, army and intelligence agencies.”
snipurl.com/1w26z
 
Democrats: US should redeploy troops to fight in Pakistan and Afghanistan:
In the party’s weekly radio address, New York Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand says placing troops in the two countries would better serve the battle against terror. She says it would also create stability in the Middle East.
www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=7555225&nav=menu25_2
 
Ron Paul Speaks On The Problems With The U.S. – Pakistan Relationship.
Video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdWYkesEmA8

U.S. Special Forces to Head to Pakistan
William M. Arkin
Beginning early next year, U.S. Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency forces and clandestine counterterrorism units, according to defense officials involved with the planning… These Pakistan-centric operations will mark a shift for the U.S. military and for U.S. Pakistan relations. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the U.S. used Pakistani bases to stage movements into Afghanistan. Yet once the U.S. deposed the Taliban government and established its main operating base at Bagram, north of Kabul, U.S. forces left Pakistan almost entirely. Since then, Pakistan has restricted U.S. involvement in cross-border military operations as well as paramilitary operations on its soil. But the Pentagon has been frustrated by the inability of Pakistani national forces to control the borders or the frontier area. And Pakistan’s political instability has heightened U.S. concern about Islamic extremists there.
snipurl.com/1vw84

Clinton Demands Bhutto Probe, Slams Musharraf
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122907A.shtml
According to Agence France-Presse, “Hillary Clinton Friday called for an independent, international probe into Benazir Bhutto’s murder, as the turmoil wracking US anti-terror ally Pakistan reshaped debate in the White House race.”