Khyber PassAmerican forces have entered Pakistan.
United States military officials have acknowledged that American forces conducted a raid inside Pakistan on 3 August 2008. (US officials confirm raid inside Pakistan)
There is a belief by some people that the CIA and its friends are trying to break up Pakistan.
Pakistan, a Moslem state with nuclear weapons, is in a strategically important location.
A balkanised Pakistan would be easier to control.
Brig. Asif Haroon Raja, a defence and political analyst, wrote in the Asian Tribune, 10 August 2008, that "Our adversaries based in Kabul are earnestly working upon a chalked out agenda to destabilise, de-Islamise and de-nuclearise Pakistan, disintegrate or balkanise it..." - Pakistan: Grim internal and external situation Asian Tribune
This is where the 'probably dead CIA agent' Osama bin Laden comes into the story.
"The frontier region is considered a likely hideout for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahri." - US forces 'violate' Pakistan territory with attack on Taliban
So, US troops have an excuse to enter Pakistan, just as they previously entered Afghanistan.
What is the attitude of the US presidential candidates?
"Barack Obama has said, on multiple occasions, that he supports taking actions against terrorists who flee across the border into Pakistan, if Pakistani officials are unable or unwilling to act. Obama's position is consistent with U.S. policy, which Bush has acted on.
"John McCain not only disagrees, he's repeatedly criticized Obama's policy, accusing him of wanting to "bomb our ally." Indeed, McCain recently suggested to CNN's Larry King that he, as president, wouldn't even pursue Osama bin Laden if he slipped past the border because 'Pakistan is a sovereign nation.'" - Will McCain Condemn Bush's Incursion Into Pakistan?
Pakistan does not want to be invaded. (Pakistan protests to US over raid)
It looks like the CIA toppled Musharraf.
Reportedly, Bush dumped Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, refusing to take a series of "help me" telephone calls from the man he once described as his 'best buddy'. - Bush's Pakistan 'buddy' cast adrift
There have been various reports that the CIA has been trying to destabilise Pakistan.
1. "For reasons best known to Langley, the CIA headquarters, as well as the Pentagon, Pakistani officials say the Americans were not interested in disrupting the Kabul-based fountainhead of terrorism in Balochistan." - US accused of backing terrorism in Pakistan
2. Pakistan PM Gilani ... "could not muster the courage to tell (Bush) that the CIA was actively involved in an unholy game to destabilise Pakistan." - Pakistan: Grim internal and external situation
3. On 4 September 2007, at least 25 people were killed and 68 injured in two bombings aimed at military intelligence targets in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad. Blasts hit Pakistan garrison town
This was part of a series of events reportedly aimed at destabilising Musharraf and Pakistan.
There are a number of world leaders who, reportedly, were (1) put into power by the CIA and then (2) toppled by the CIA.
Think of Noriega, Suharto, Saddam Hussein, Marcos...
Why might the CIA want to topple Musharraf.
In 2006, Musharraf wrote a book in which he claimed that Omar Sheikh, one of the primary financers of the 9/11 attacks, may have worked for British intelligence during the 1990s.
“It is believed in some quarters that while Omar Sheikh was at the LSE (London School of Economics) he was recruited by the British intelligence agency MI6,” Musharraf writes in his book, In the Line of Fire: A Memoir.
Musharraf names 9/11 suspect as possible British asset
From US turns against Musharraf, Asia Times Online, January 12, 2006:
"According to a contact who spoke to Asia Times Online, a person close to the US Central Intelligence Agency paid a low-profile visit to New Delhi in the third week of December and briefed strategic planners on Washington's plan to try to curtail the role of the Pakistani army."
On 25 march 2007, the UK's Sunday Telegraph, reportedly close to MI6, stated:
"Two exiled former prime ministers of Pakistan will launch a joint attempt this week to drive the current president, Pervez Musharraf, from power. Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif agreed to join forces during a meeting in London after weeks of political crisis in Pakistan have left its military strongman with a tenuous grip on power."
According to http://www.dnaindia.com/ 'the CIA is in the process of trying to find a replacement for Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf.' Reportedly, the CIA hopes to replace Musharraf with a military officer.
DailyNewsAnalysis India's source is 'a well placed diplomat'.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1086625
"The US sent head-of-state hunters from the Central Intelligence Agency to scour the Pakistani military apparatus to identify a suitable replacement for General Pervez Musharraf.
"The extraordinary recruitment mission — reflecting the seriousness of purpose and urgency with which the Bush administration wants to oust its ‘most valuable ally’ — was disclosed recently by a well-placed diplomatic source...
"A team of CIA operatives was subsequently sent to the country to sort out pro-US army officers, one of whom could be considered Musharraf’s successor as the commander-in-chief."
Musharraf
KiyaniThe new head of the Pakistan army is Ashfaq Kiyani.
He has strong links with Washington.
He was at one time the head of ISI, the Pakistan spy agency, which works closely with the Americans. - Musharraf protege might yet turn on his benefactor
It is possible that the CIA has for some time been planning to topple Musharraf and replace him with someone like Kiyani.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visited Pakistan in November 2007. He held three meetings with General Ashfaq Kiyani, the deputy army chief. (US appears to groom possible Musharraf army successor - The Boston ...)
He has strong links with Washington.
He was at one time the head of ISI, the Pakistan spy agency, which works closely with the Americans. - Musharraf protege might yet turn on his benefactor
It is possible that the CIA has for some time been planning to topple Musharraf and replace him with someone like Kiyani.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visited Pakistan in November 2007. He held three meetings with General Ashfaq Kiyani, the deputy army chief. (US appears to groom possible Musharraf army successor - The Boston ...)
According to the Washington Post, 26 December 2007, ( U.S. Troops to Head to Pakistan )the new head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, Adm. Eric T. Olson visited Pakistan in August, November and December 2007.
Why does the USA apparently want to topple Musharraf and replace him with a more clearly pro-American general?
In September 2006, CBS produced an interview with Musharraf. In this interview, Musharraf claims that after the 9/11 attacks, then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage threatened Pakistan's military intelligence chief that the U.S. would bomb his country 'back to the Stone Age' if Musharraf didn't cooperate with the USA. (Bush and Musharraf: Friends Again - TIME)
And, of course, in 2006, Musharraf wrote a book in which he stated that Omar Sheikh, one of the primary financers of the 9/11 attacks, may have worked for British intelligence during the 1990s. (xymphora: Omar Sheikh and British intelligence)
aangirfan: The role of Pakistan Military Intelligence in terror ...
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