More-and-more the US is becoming aware that our greatest security threat is not in Afghanistan nor Iraq, but instead Pakistan. But, Pakistan's government is having problems focusing its citizenry on a common internal enemy, as there are many subversive groups within Pakistan that take on many members, sympathizers, or just individuals close to the organizations' members through kinship or tribal affiliation. It appears that these groups are coalescing under as a singular Taliban element which is claiming authority over vast parts of Pakistan.
Yet, public outcry in Pakistan is divided between criticisms of the civilian government, reluctant outrage against the Taliban, and America for its drone attacks.
From this story, we here about Zardari's moves against the Taliban in Swat and Buner.
But, what is interesting is the reluctance by al Qaeda in Pakistan to take any credit for the Taliban's moves. Meanwhile, they continue to suffer from drone attacks. The article eludes to Qaeda's strategic view that it best not be seen as fomenting domestic unrest because it fears a possible backlash by would-be local supporters in the event that their operations may turn ugly. In essence, al Qaeda doesn't want to shit where it sleeps.
Other things that I think should be highlighted include Zardari's efforts to get drone technology from the US (which are currently being refused) and al Qaeda's moves to foment domestic discontent with Zardari to the point where he calls of CIA led drone attacks. So, I'm not sure what Zardari's strategic calculus is in this case, i.e. it seems he feels that the drone attacks would receive less domestic criticism if they were conducted by the Pak government instead of the CIA. But this seems counter-intuitive to me.
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