Whenever any terrorist activity happens and a Pakistani connection is discovered, Musharraf plays the good-cop, producing all the sound bites the western world wants to hear. Occasionally a terrorist pops out of the hat and for this magic trick he gets rewarded with money, F-16s, and invitations to Camp David. Now people in United States seem to be fed up with his delaying tactics.
When Porter Goss was asked when Osama bin Laden would be found, his answer was not the ritualistic one.
`That is a question that goes far deeper than you know,” Goss began. “We have some weak links” that make it impossible for now to get bin Laden, he explained, pointing to “the very difficult question of dealing with sanctuaries in sovereign states.”
Sounds like you know where he is, the interviewer pressed. “I have an excellent idea of where he is,” Goss responded. The CIA boss was delivering a clear message to the “weak link” — Pakistan and its military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.[Pakistani forces tied to Taliban are hiding bin Laden, CIA thinks]
Lee Hamilton, vice chairman of the 9/11 commission told that Pakistan has not been helpful and other diplomats agree with him. So President Bush made a call to Musharraf and spoke for twenty five minutes on various issues after getting complaints from Indians and Afghanis.
Bush’s phone call was evidently made in this context. A 25-minute phone call would obviously involve lot more than just pleasantries and praise. Soon after the call Musharraf announced that Pakistan would expel all foreigners from madrassas in Pakistan. [Bush calls Mush on terror links]
Earlier either Musharraf used to get invited here or some diplomat would go to Islamabad to get things done. Now all it takes is a phone call.
On a side note, anyone heard of Burger King-Muslim in Paris?