The Pakistani Response: Zardari’s Tightrope
by Justin Delabar on 02/12/08 at 9:42 pm
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari today spoke out about the Mumbai attacks, assuring the world that his government is in no way responsible for the massacre despite India’s claims that the attackers hailed from his country:
“I think these are stateless actors who have been operating all throughout the region,” Zardari said on CNN’s “Larry King [...]
India’s True Test Begins
It seems that the Mumbai terrorist siege has finally come to an end, 170+ casualties later. There have been many conflicting reports about the origins of the terrorist organization that perpetrated the attacks, but the narrative that has risen to the surface is the possible involvement of the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Whether or not this is the case, it certainly ratchets up tensions between Pakistan and India, muddying what had been promising attempts at a sustainable peace. The question now becomes: what next for India?
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Nouri al-Maliki has achieved what once would have seemed impossible for him: a Status of Forces Agreement with the United States that meets the vast majority of his demands. Just two years ago, Maliki was chosen as a weak consensus Prime Minister meant to satiate the demands of Muqtada al-Sadr’s followers while disallowing the overly powerful Suprme Islamic Iraqi Council even greater power. Today, al-Maliki is easily the most powerful politician in Iraq, with some suggesting his strength could reach almost dictatorial levels.
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