Karzai provides records tracing terrorists to Pakistan

As reported here, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has provided Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf with documents detailing how suicide bombers who attack targets in Afghanistan are being recruited, trained and equipped in Pakistan.

Karzai wants Musharraf to get tough on the terrorists who are in Pakistan and are making attacks on Afghan soil, and I think he's right in doing so. However, because of the general feeling of a large number of Pakistani's toward the West - hatred - and their support for the Taliban and OBL, Musharraf is walking a very difficult line.

Musharraf has to consider how he came to power - through a military coup - and the fact that if he takes a more hard line approach to dealing with certain elements in certain areas of Pakistan that border on Afghanistan, he may suffer the same fate as his predecessor. He also has to consider that if that does happen, and his successor decides that cooperation with the West is not "in the best interests of Pakistan", Pakistan would lose all of the economic and military aid it now receives from the US. And then there is India to consider, Pakistan's bitter rival, which is also an ally of the US. If Musharraf is deposed, and Pakistan turns away from the West, India may be encouraged to do "something about the Pakistan/Kashmir issue" - i.e; invade - something that India has made noises about for decades now.

I believe that Musharraf is a Pakistani patriot who wants good things for his country, a part of which is continued good relations with the West in general, and the US in particular (if for no other reason than to keep India in check), but would really like to see the terrorist problem simply "go away" with little effort on his part - which won't happen, of course - and realizes that he is a position of weakness as far as what his military and police forces can (or are willing to) do about the terrorists operating in the border regions.

Karzai, however, is operating from a position of strength. Not only are there coalition troops operating in Afghanistan providing security, with his own nation's army and police forces growing in size and capability, but he enjoys the support of the majority of the Afghan people.

Karzai is right in pressuring Musharraf to do more to stem the terrorist activity originating in Pakistan, and taking place in Afghanistan. The question now is, will Musharraf be willing and able to do anything about this situation?