Completely reasonable to expect the new government, that ran on the platform of being anti Musharraf and not a "US lackey", to attempt to make distinctions between its owm policy and that of Musharraf's. Whether that means there will be any significant change in cooperation with the US, it is too early to tell.
One of the failings of the past policy was a lack of ownership and support for the WoT amongst Pakistanis, and unless the GoP is able to sell to the Pakistani people the idea that it is not kowtowing to US demands this government will not see much success either.
The Bush admin. has taken the correct step of showing support for the new government:
Quote:
|
Bush clears way for $300m aid to Pakistan WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush has decided to waive a domestic law for Pakistan to pump in $300 million security assistance in the country amid stepped up efforts by Washington to bring its new civilian government on board in the “war on terror”.
Bush has decided to exempt Pakistan from a law that restricts funding to the countries where the legitimate head of the state has been deposed in a military coup with a view to facilitating the transition to democratic rule, the White House said, adding it was important to efforts of the US to respond to, deter, or prevent acts of international terrorism.
It said Bush, who had given the waiver to Pakistan every year since 2003, had asked the US Congress for about $300 million for security assistance to Pakistan. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the Bush administration still had concerns about the human rights situation in Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf overthrew the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup 1999, but stressed that President Musharraf was a key ally in the “war on terror”.
“The Pakistani government is conducting military, police, and intelligence operations to fight terrorist groups on Pakistani soil and bring terrorists to justice,” Johndroe said. In a message to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bush has said that he has made a determination to waive Section 608 of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and related programs appropriations act, 2008.
Bush clears way for $300m aid to Pakistan
|