Pakistan's alliance with the US in the conflict in Afghanistan has brought the nation's powerful military full circle -- from pro-Western, to Islamic extremist and back to pro-Western.
In the past few days, Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, has reshuffled senior ranks to remove generals with pro-Taliban leanings at a time when his government has lined up behind the US.
The move is not without risks for Musharraf, who took power in 1999 in a military coup. His interior minister, Moinuddin Haider, estimates that 30 percent of the 750,000-strong military harbor extreme Islamic sentiments.
Ironically, it was Afghanistan that transformed Pakistan's Western-style army into a force with Muslim fundamentalists in key positions.
The late president Zia ul-Haq, himself a Muslim extremist, welcomed Islamic ideologues and promoted them to the rank of general.
Ordinarily, that would have put Pakistan at odds with Washington, which traditionally favored this country over its archrival India, which was close to Moscow during the Cold War.
Yet the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan prompted the US to turn to Pakistan as a partner in supporting Muslim extremists fighting Moscow's forces.
Zia in turn favored resistance fighters such as Gulbudin Hekmatyer, among the most radical Islamists, and encouraged the US administration under former president Ronald Reagan to channel billions of dollars worth of weapons to them.
Zia was killed in a plane crash in 1988. However, his influence remains strong within the officer corps and in the rank-and-file. That is, in part, one of the reasons for Pakistan's close links to the Taliban until the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks forced Musharraf to choose between them and the rest of the world.
That decision was controversial within the military, according to sources in the armed forces speaking on condition of anonymity.
In order to dump the Taliban, Musharraf had to move against senior officers -- some of whom were instrumental in his own successful coup against prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The realignment began last weekend with the removal of Lieutenant-General Mohammed Aziz Khan from the powerful position of corps commander in Lahore. He was given the largely ceremonial job of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Aziz had been considered perhaps the most powerful man in the country and his approval was required for most decisions and appointments within the military regime.
For example, Aziz had blocked plans by Musharraf to prevent abuse of the country's blasphemy laws, which make it a crime to insult Islam. The charge, punishable by death, has been applied against non-Muslim minorities for years.
In the personnel shuffle, Musharraf appointed Lieutenant-General Mohammed Yousuf as vice chief of staff of the army. He passed over another leading fundamentalist, Lieutenant-General Muzaffar Usmani, now deputy chief of staff.
Usmani's position becomes redundant with the appointment of Yousuf, who is commonly referred to as "Joe."
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS