Musharraf’s candid interview

Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf just gave a press conference at his residence in Rawalpindi that appears to be one of the most forthcoming in recent memory. He admitted that Pakistani border guards have sometimes turned a blind eye to Taliban fighters: There is no question of anyone abetting, but there are people at the tactical ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.
599305_musharraf_pc_05.jpg
599305_musharraf_pc_05.jpg

Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf just gave a press conference at his residence in Rawalpindi that appears to be one of the most forthcoming in recent memory. He admitted that Pakistani border guards have sometimes turned a blind eye to Taliban fighters:

Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf just gave a press conference at his residence in Rawalpindi that appears to be one of the most forthcoming in recent memory. He admitted that Pakistani border guards have sometimes turned a blind eye to Taliban fighters:

There is no question of anyone abetting, but there are people at the tactical level who turn a blind eye … and that needs to be corrected.

Musharraf still maintains that the Taliban resurgence is primarily an Afghan phenomenon, of course, but he’s now admitting that “some support” is flowing from Pakistan.

What accounts for this refreshing bout of candor? Perhaps the delivery of another round of U.S. military equipment has put the Pakistani president in a magnanimous mood.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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