CHAPTER 4
Struggle for the Control of Pakistan:
Musharraf Takes On the Islamist Radicals
Stephen F. Burgess
Introduction
The attacks of September 11, 2001, underscored the fact that Pakistan
has been a principal center for international rivals who have sought to
attack the United States and its interests overseas. Al Qaeda and the
Taliban, as well as Kashmiri and homegrown Pakistani Islamist militant
groups, have maintained a presence and popularity in Pakistan, both
among sections of the masses and elites. Post-September 11 attacks on the
U.S. Consulate in Karachi, the journalist Daniel Pearl and French defense
workers also in Karachi, and an Anglican Church congregation in
Islamabad have demonstrated that Islamist terrorism is robust in Pakistan’s
cities. Al Qaeda and Taliban forces have moved from Afghanistan into
western Pakistan, where the central government has little control, and
some have moved into the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir on the
Pakistan side of the Line of Control, where they hope to incite war
between India and Pakistan. In response, the U.S. war on terrorism,
Operation Enduring Freedom, is being fought inside Pakistan, as well as
Afghanistan. Also, the Bush administration is working to stop Islamist
militants in Kashmir from drawing Pakistani forces away from the Afghan
border or starting a Pakistan-India war that could go nuclear.
Before September 11, 2001, it appeared that Pakistan was on the road
to becoming an international rival of the United States. Relations between
the military government of Pakistan, led by President/General Pervez
Musharraf, and the United States were at a low point. U.S. sanctions
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