One of the stiffest opponents to the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is the former Prime Minister of the nation Benazir Bhutto. She has been in exile for 8 years now and faces corruption charges at home. Yet they don’t deter her from monitoring the events in her native country and expressing her opinions on them.
Bhutto might be against several policies adopted by the Pakistani General Musharraf but on topic, she is at one. In a recent interview to the BBC, Bhutto remarked that she would join the American forces and let them come into Pakistan should they give the assurance that their strikes would kill the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. She admits the need of the Americans in the fight against terrorism in Pakistan and more importantly in eradicating bin Laden from the world but at the same time, she is not ready to hand the initiative to the Bush administration.
Benazir Bhutto said that she would invite the American military into Pakistan only after she is convinced that she with her Pakistani forces cannot eliminate the al-Qaeda leader. For her, cooperation with the Americans would come only after her own resources have been tried and tested and have been proved to be incapable of containing the threats.
Such an opinion appears to be a shred one indeed. The polls in Pakistan are on October 6 and the opposition parties there are firmly against the President seeking yet another term in the Presidential office. The US is fast running out of patience with the President in combating the escalating al-Qaeda insurgency in Pakistan and the people too are desperate for improvement on domestic policies.
Under such circumstances, Benazir Bhutto’s comments about fostering America’s help demonstrate that she too is willing to forge alliance with the Americans. In recent weeks, she has propagated herself to be the one to lead Pakistan to a new era and now she acknowledges the American help. She might have out of active politics for 8 years but she still retains the tricks.
Image Source: South Western Education
Source: Dawn
