by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Oct. 30, 2006
All Rights Reserved.

roving he's a loyal ally, Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf ordered the helicopter attack of a madrassa or religious school near the Afghan border, killing 80 believed Taliban and Al Qaeda sympathizers. Since Sept. 11, Musharraf, while regarded as a close ally, has been criticized for taking too little action against Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in the jagged mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a largely unregulated area run by warlords. Bombing the madrassa caused outrage in locals, blaming the action on the U.S. military. Students, teachers, women and children were vaporized in the pre-dawn raid, sending shockwaves through Pakistan's radical community. Killed in the attack in the remote Northern village of Chingal was a high profile cleric with ties to Ayman Al Zawahri, Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, believed training terrorists.

      Musharraf's move may have been triggered by U.S. intelligence that Al Zawahri was visiting the madrassa at the time of the attack. Vice President Dick Cheney suggested that stepped up attacks by terrorists in Iraq resulting in over 100 deaths in Oct. was an attempt to influence the U.S. election. By the same token, Monday's attack might also be an attempt to impact the Nov. 7 vote, though in the opposite direction. Musharraf's might have burned his bridges with tribesman with loyalty to Bin Laden and the Taliban. Two weeks ago, President George W. Bush met with both Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the White House, both pledging cooperation. Amidst the unrest, Britain's Prince Charles cancelled his trip to Pesahwar, Pakistan, due to security concerns. Musharraf ordered the bombing when the cleric Liaquat Hussain used the school as a terrorist camp.

      Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said Hussain was warned to stop using his madrassa as an Al Qaeda terror base. “These militants were involved in actions inside Pakistan and probably in Afghanistan,” said Sultan, confirming reports that top Al Qaeda operatives were using the terrorist training camp. Reports surfaced that Al Zawahri lieutenant Faqir Mohammed left the madrassa a short time before the bombing. Musharraf sent a loud message to militants the he wasn't going to give Bin Laden's henchmen a safe haven before launching new attacks. “It is all wrong, speculative and we launched this operation on our own to target a training facility,” said Sultan, denying that the attack was coordinated with the U.S. military. Musharraf, who came to power in bloodless coup in 1999, antagonized Pakistan's radical fringe with his close relationship with Bush.

      Musharraf faces the same dilemma as Afghanistan's Karzai, trying to make deals with militants while straddling the fence. “Death to Musharrah! Death to Bush!” chanted 2,000 angry tribesmen in Chingai and the Bjur district's main town of Khar, where only hours after the bombing Al Zawahri lieutenant Faqir Mohammed incited an angry mob at the burial of bombing victims. “We were peaceful, but the government attacked and killed our innocent people on orders from America,” said Mohammed, surrounded by militants with semiautomatic weapons. Like the Palestinian territories, Pakistan and Afghanistan's unregulated tribal regions serves as magnet for extremists hell-bent on toppling U.S.-friendly regimes. Two days later, Mohammed led 5,000 pro-Taliban and Al Qaeda protestors in demonstrating against the Pakistani and U.S. governments.

      Musharraf depends heavily on U.S. foreign aid now totaling around $4.4 billion a year. Between 2002-05, Pakistan received $15 billion, far exceeding other key U.S. allies, including Israel. When Pakistan's bomb maker Abdul Kadeer Khan surreptitiously sold nuclear technology to Tehran, U.S. lawmakers were fast asleep. Musharraf placed Khan under house arrest, though the renegade atomic scientist seemed committed to getting nukes into the hands of the third world. Bombing the high profile madrassa and killing another Bin Laden sycophant is yet another act of war to Islamic radicals. “It is an open aggression,” said Al Zawahri operative Faqir Mohammed. Musharraf walks a razor's edge placating extremists and, at the same time, serving obligations as a client state to the U.S. Eventually, Musharraf won't escape an assassin's bullet when he least expects it.

      Bush now justifies the Iraq war to democratize a U.S.-backed government with closer ties to Tehran than Washington. Doing business with a street thug like Musharraf carries its own risks, not to mention the hypocrisy of accepting tyrants because they acquiesce to U.S. policy. Dispatching National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley to Baghdad, Bush hopes to mend fences with Iraq's handpicked Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, after attacking radical cleric Moqtada Al Sadr's forces in Sadr City. Instead of meeting his obligation to dismantle armed militias, Al Maliki uses Al Sadr's Mahdi army as private bodyguards. Islamic extremists in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan will not stop until they topple the U.S.-backed regimes regarded as illegitimate. Musharraf, Al Maliki and Karzai are all marked men, whose lives will eventually get snuffed out for colluding with the U.S.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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