Where is the Pakistani Army?

Original: Where is the Pakistani Army?

The most telling detail in the Taliban's trademark step-by-step march on Islamabad is the invisibility of the vaunted Pakistan Army. It tells us about all we need to know about the staying power of the Asif Zardari government: It may not be long.

In dual reports today, my friend Zahid Hussain -- one of the sharpest observers in Pakistan -- finds that the Army has elected to meet the shift of the Taliban to within 65 miles of the capital with a token, ragtag force of 300 fighters from the Frontier Corps. (
But the Army, and in particular its intelligence arm, the InterServices Intelligence directorate, has been in cahoots with the Taliban, al Qaeda and the region's other militants for almost three decades. For the last two decades, the ISI has asserted that it has no further operational links with the militants, only to be proven to be prevaricating (see O&G, chapter 16, about the ill-fated Unocal pipeline through Afghanistan).

So which is it -- is the Pakistan Army supporting the current civilian government; or is it backing a Taliban takeover of the country?

In 21 years of living in, traveling to and watching Pakistan, and observing all the various missile strikes, coups, and so forth, this is the first time I have felt a serious threat to the country.

If events continue along