WikiLeaks cables fuel hostility to US role in Pakistan (tags)
"Indeed, another cable cites a discussion between US Vice President Joe Biden and Zardari in early 2009 in which the Pakistani president expressed his concern that the “ISI director and [Gen. Ashfaq Parvez] Kayani will take me out.” The US government apparently knew more than it was sharing with Zardari. Another cable describes a conversation held during the same period in which General Kayani told Ambassador Patterson that he “might, however reluctantly,” move to force Zardari from office. Many of the cables expose Washington and Islamabad as partners in carrying out bloody crimes and deception against the Pakistani people. As the US has stepped up its military operations in the region, dubbing its intervention the “Afpak war,” the Zardari government has attempted to assuage popular anger by posing as an opponent of US violations of Pakistani sovereignty."
POPPING THE CHERRY OF THE NEW REGIME (tags)
In a couple of days, Richard Holbrooke - Hilary Clinton's pick to push the US imperialist agenda in Afghanistan - is about to get his feet wet by visiting neighboring Pakistan. Holbrooke, a former US envoy to the UN and considered an expert on the region's geopolitics will face an ally who's growing weary and suspicious of the US real intentions. The Pakistanis who were hopeful that the new Washington regime could somewhat relieve the toxicity of the Bush campaign were greatly dismayed when three days after the much ballyhooed Obama inauguration, a drone guided bombing killed 21 of their own citizens.
Al Qaeda and Taliban takeout Islamabad Marriott (tags)
The Islamabad Marriott was believed a relatively safe haven and a favorite place for locals and foreigners to stay and socialize, despite repeated militant attacks. In January 2007, a security guard blocked a suicide bomber who triggered a blast just outside the Marriott, killing the guard and wounding seven other people.