Product Description

After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan stands on the edge of an abyss, in to which it may plunge the world. As this nuclear power nation, the front line of the West's struggle against Al Qaeda, enters the worst political crisis in its history, Zahid Hussain's acclaimed and updated book unravels the key questions: who really controls the country? Will Pakistan be Talibanized? Has Al Qaeda infilitrated the state?After 9/11, Pakistan's controversial President, Pervez Musharraf stunned the world by announcing his support for America's 'War on Terror'. But in Pakistan, as Zahid Hussain reveals, nothing is as it seems.Hussain documents for the first time in detail the incestuous relationship between Pakistan's jihadis and its all-powerful military intelligence agency - the ISI.Based on exclusive interviews with key players, he shows us the fall-out from Musharraf's momentous decision to support America. He penetrates the jihadi networks, revealing their sources of funding, and their links with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. From the dangerous mountain passes of Waziristan to the mess tables of Rawalpindi and the sectarian madrassas of the Punjab, Hussain portrays a country which was already seething with unrest before political violence claimed its highest profile victim in December 2007.As Hussain shows, whoever was behind the assasination of Benazir Bhutto, its main effect has been to accelerate the country's fragmentation, creating a level of uncertainty and chaos from which only extremists and terrorists can benefit. Whatever lies in wait for Pakistan - Talibanization, civil war or worse - it will have grave implications for the entire world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #361022 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
"Well researched, well written, impeccably sourced and balanced, accurate, reliable, and above all, amazingly clear and comprehensible. Hussain has interviewed most of the principal players in the Government, the military and the jihadi groups...Unlike many commentators on militant Islam, Hussain writes with nuance and understanding" William Dalrymple, The Times "An important and informed inside look" Seymour Hersh "The first serious exposure of the rise and continuation of Islamic extremism in Pakistan...Hussain shows the links between the major jihadi groups, Al Qaeda and the country's military intelligence with a degree of detail not seen in any Western writing on the subject" Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban"

SUNDAY TIMES
`Hussain offers some chilling details...a largely upbeat
narrative' Amir Tahiri

TIMES
`It is well researched, well written, impeccably sourced and
balanced, accurate, reliable, and above all, amazingly clear and
comprehensible.'

`Unlike many commentators on militant Islam, Hussain writes with nuance and
understanding of the differences between the various forms of militancy and
the crucial distinctions between the madrassa-educated peasant foot
soldiers of the Taleban and the sophisticated international terrorists of
al-Qaeda, many the bourgeois products of Western universities.'
- William Dalrymple