| Just to prove a point to Superman Major General MBI Munshi of Pakistan Defense Forum (Top Secret), I too belong to several Pakistani e-forums. No Paki I communicate with is as ferociously committed to communalism as our Munshi. -- Farida Majid ================ The Idiot's Guide to Pakistan | ||
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Posted March 2009  | ||
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| Everyone in Washington is talking about Pakistan, but few understand it. Here's how to dazzle the crowd at your next Georgetown cocktail party. |
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Photo: TARIQ MAHMOOD/AFP/Getty Images
And yet, the uptick in coverage hasn't necessarily clarified the who's-doing-what-to-whom confusion in Pakistan. Some commentators continue to confuse the tribal areas with the North-West Frontier Province. And the word lashkars is used to describe all kinds of otherwise cross-purposed groups, some fighting the Taliban, some fighting India, and some fighting Shiites.
I admit, it's not easy. I lived in Pakistan throughout all of 2006 and 2007 and only came to understand, say, the tribal breakdown in South Waziristan during my final days. So to save you the trouble of having to live in Pakistan for two years to differentiate between the Wazirs and the Mehsuds, the Frontier Corps and the Rangers, I've written an "idiot's guide" that will hopefully clear some things up.
Next: The Troubled Tribals >
Nicholas Schmidle is a fellow at the New America Foundation and author of the forthcoming To Live or to Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years in Pakistan (New York: Henry Holt, May 2009). |
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