Pakistan's Military Stays a Step Ahead

ISLAMABAD - In an attempt to lend popular support to the United States-led "war on terror", London and Washington orchestrated the victory of secular and liberal political forces in Pakistan. A deal between then-president General Pervez Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto was agreed on which resulted in the promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Two years later, blowback from this deal threatens to throw the civilian government into chaos, at the very time it is fighting to establish a new operational control over the country's nuclear arsenal, and while a major offensive is being waged against militants in the tribal areas.