AS PRESS reports reveal that the CIA is to expand its covert operations in Pakistan, USA is pushing Pakistan into accepting the presence of more of its �Special Forces' on its soil. Prof. Michel Chossudovsky of Global Research, Canada has written a paper titled �The Destabilisation of Pakistan'. In this paper, it has been revealed that the US sees an opportunity to coerce unpopular Musharraf administration into accepting its terms as it faces mounting public opposition in the wake of the assassination of Ms Bhutto. The paper reveals that the USA sees an opportunity to advance its agenda in the forthcoming elections. It says:



"Washington will push for a compliant political leadership, with no commitment to the national interest, a leadership which will serve US imperial interests, while concurrently contributing under the disguise of "decentralization", to the weakening of the central government and the fracture of Pakistan's fragile federal structure."



On America's objective, it says, "The political impasse is deliberate. It is part of an evolving US foreign policy agenda, which favours disruption and disarray in the structures of the Pakistani State. Indirect rule by the Pakistani military is to be replaced by more direct forms of US interference, including an expanded US military presence inside Pakistan, which is also dictated by the Middle East-Central Asia geopolitical situation and Washington's ongoing plans to extend the Middle East war to a much broader area."



The paper reveals: "The US has several military bases in Pakistan. It controls the country's air space. According to a recent report: "U.S. Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency forces and clandestine "counter-terrorism" units. The official justification and pretext for an increased military presence in Pakistan is to extend the "war on terrorism". Concurrently, to justify its "counter-terrorism" program, Washington is also beefing up its covert support to the "terrorists."



It has now become apparent that the insurgency in the FATA region of Pakistan is aided and abetted by the US. It wants to weaken the control of the federal government over Pakistan and it does not care whether it is achieved by Islamists or by ethnic nationalists. In Pakistan, it supports the BLA as well as Baitullah Mehsud. On the political scene, it maintains its contacts with the MQM, the ANP, Baloch Nationalists as well as the JUI. It came to court Benazir led PPP as it concluded she was not overly concerned with �national interests'.



During the eight-year rule of Musharraf, the MQM has been the one party he has consistently courted. This party's leader declared in India "Partition was the biggest blunder in history". Its manifesto seeks to re-write the constitution on the basis of 1940 Resolution. It wants the Federation to have only three subjects - Defence, Foreign Affairs and Currency. While the MQM wants Pakistan to accept the Line of Control as the border in Kashmir, Musharraf is willing to give even Azad Kashmir and Northern Area to joint control with India.



Patriotic Pakistanis are thoroughly confused. Should they see Musharraf and the Army as an instrument of the defence of their national interests or a vehicle for compromising them? Would the political administration that results from the February Elections better defend Pakistan's interests or would it weaken Pakistan even further by infighting and erosion of federal authority. The people of Pakistan do not care whether Musharraf is inept or a collaborator of anti-Pakistan interests; they want to see the back of him. The hope is that the institutions of �free media' and �independent judiciary' would protect Pakistan's interests even if the political apparatus cannot. And these would be restored early and fully only if he left the office of the President before the Elections.


Source:http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2008/01/10/9243.shtml