Letters to the Editor
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Pakistan.......
The vast majority of the educated Pakistanis are indeed moderate and are certainly in favor of dismantling the extremist militants. The election results in the Frontier have once again shown that. Unfortunately most of the resources sent to Musharraf by the Bush government weren't subject to oversight and disappeared into other areas while the terrorist cells in the NWFP kept gaining strength. The good news is that the civilians are about to take over. The bad news is that the Army stills wields all the real power and Musharraf may still have his key men there able to do his bidding. There are also, fortunately, men in high ranking positions in the army whose aims of supporting a democracy are in keeping with those of the vast majority of Pakistanis. It's easy to name a few of these. The truth is Pakistanis are a fair and intelligent people who can be reasoned with. Strong armed tactics have only bred rebellion and chaos. It's time for the much neglected diplomatic approach to be introduced. I know the presence of nuclear weapons there may cause us to continue with the panic/force reaction. Let's resist that.