Conservatives Ponder Pakistan’s Future, Disagree

Published: January 3, 2008, 7:03 am

Tags: 2008 elections, politics, south asia, usa, ashfaq kayani, benazir bhutto, cato institute, nukes, pakistan, stratfor

Ata Ur Rehman’s neat contrast between American political parties and support for tyranny (via TMV) might be put to the test. Rehman argues that Democrats in the White House coincide with democratic leaders in Pakistan; Republicans favor dictators. Yet, two conservative publications, Strategic Forecasting and Cato Institute disagree wildly about US policy in Pakistan after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. George Friedman (from an email alert, not a subscription), after a unsurprising analysis concludes with a zinger: But the United States now faces its endgame under far less than ideal conditions. Iraq is stabilizing. That might reverse, but for now it is stabilizing. The Taliban is strong, but it is under pressure and has serious internal problems. The endgame always was supposed to come in Pakistan, but this is far from how the Americans wanted to play it out. The United States is not going to get an aggressive, anti-Islamist military in Pakistan, but it badly needs more

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