Frontline Pakistan : the struggle with militant Islam / Zahid Hussain.
"After September 11, 2001, Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, vowed to fight extremism in his country and has since established himself as a key ally in America's "global war on terror." But as veteran Pakistani journalist and commentator Zahid Hussain reveals in this b...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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New York :
Columbia University Press,
[2007]
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| Summary: | "After September 11, 2001, Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, vowed to fight extremism in his country and has since established himself as a key ally in America's "global war on terror." But as veteran Pakistani journalist and commentator Zahid Hussain reveals in this book, Musharraf is in an impossible position. The Pakistani army and intelligence services are thoroughly penetrated by jihadists. In fact, the current government came into power through its support of radical Islamist groups, such as those fighting in Kashmir." "Based on exclusive interviews with key players and grassroots radicals, Hussain exposes the threads of Pakistan's complex political power web and the consequences of Musharraf's decision to support the U.S.'s drive against jihadism, which essentially took Pakistan to war with itself. He recounts the origins and nature of the jihadi movement in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the long-standing and often denied links between militants and Pakistani authorities, the weaknesses of successive elected governments, and the challenges to Musharraf's authority posed by politico-religious, sectarian, and civil society elements within the country."--BOOK JACKET. "Hussain describes for the first time in detail the incestuous relationship between Pakistan's jihadis and its all-powerful military intelligence agency - the ISI. In the 1980s, the ISI exploited the fanaticism of jihadi warriors to fight Pakistan's proxy wars for it in Afghanistan, and later in Kashmir. In pursuing this strategy, the military acted as midwife to the birth of a murderous jihadi culture which went on to consume it." "Based on exclusive interviews with key players, Hussain reveals how Musharraf took the momentous decision to support America's war against the Taliban, whom Pakistani intelligence had helped to power in the first place. He also describes with devastating detail the blowback unleashed by the jihadis when their former allies turned on them. Musharraf, Hussain demonstrates, is living on borrowed time." "Hussain uses his unique access to penetrate the jihadi networks, and to probe their operations, sources of funding, and relationships with transnational groups like Al Qaeda. He traverses the treacherous mountain passes of Waziristan, the officers' mess tables in Rawalpindi and the sectarian madrassas of the Punjab to explore what challenges Musharraf faces, and investigate whether he has the power (or political will) to prevail."--BOOK JACKET. |
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| Physical Description: | xii, 220 pages ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 0231142242 9780231142243 |