ANALYSIS
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Once-Nurtured Militants Have Pakistan Teetering on Brink
Paradoxically, insurgents strengthen after US-inspired strikes
By Wesley Oliver
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Posted Sep 28, 08 2:37 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Pakistan’s government is caught between two overbearing powers: the Taliban fighters who want to destroy it, and the American officials who inflame tensions between the government and its people. “The Pakistanis are truly concerned about their whole country unraveling,” a Western military official tells Dexter Filkins, who sketches the evolution of Pakistan’s crisis in the New York Times.
The chaos began in 1994, when Pakistan partnered with the Taliban. But post-9/11, Islamabad ditched the insurgents and befriended Washington. Now, however, many question Pakistan’s loyalty to the US, and the Taliban strengthens as Islamabad strikes against it. “One thing seems a good bet,” Filkins concludes. “The fires and deaths that consumed the Marriot Hotel last weekend will not be the last.”