Rockets in Pakistan/Desperation by Karzai

On Saturday I was asking about the curious details and behavior surrounding the two discoveries of rockets in Pakistan near the ISI headquarters and Parliament.

The ATimes seems to confirm my guess in the comments that these rockets were a symbolic threat to Musharraf from the Taleban/tribalists along the Afghan/Pak border.

Asia Times Online has learned that the incidents were a clear show of disapproval in Waziristan over Musharraf's basking in "Washington's charm", and that he had not implemented a key aspect of the peace accord - the release of al-Qaeda suspects - despite numerous promises.

In other words, the Pakistani Taliban are using their own stick to keep Islamabad in line.....

The upshot of all this, according to signals reaching this correspondent, is that Musharraf has been put on notice. The first two incidents this week caused no damage. That was possibly the intent. This is unlikely to be the case with the next ones.

Musharraf's thin line between the conflicting US desires and those of the Taleban/ISI/tribalist elements is getting narrower.

Also in this article:

Last month could prove to be pivotal in determining the ultimate fate of the Taliban and Afghanistan, and even the United States' "war on terror".

The Taliban, after the success of this year's spring offensive, have drawn up a blueprint for an Islamic intifada in Afghanistan next year in the form of a national uprising and an internationalization of their resistance.

And, just a heads up, the Telegraph is reporting that Karzai will soon be travelling (with Afghani security only?) to the Pashtun region along the Afghan/Pak border in an attempt to convince tribal leaders to cut support for the Taleban.

"It is a long shot but Mr Karzai is desperate, as are most Afghans, to end the violence."

(I would assume this is part of the same diplomatic effort that is taking NATO Commander Richards to meet with Musharraf. This follows Richard's explosive statements yesterday that Afghanis would likely flip allegiance to the Taleban in the coming months.)