When your friends turn against you

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Uh-oh.

The Australian is reporting that change may be coming to Pakistan:

THE US has indicated for the first time that it might be willing to back plans by elite echelons of the military in Islamabad to oust Pervez Musharraf from power...

Reports yesterday quoting highly placed US diplomatic and intelligence officials -- previously rusted on to the view that General Musharraf was an indispensable Western ally in the battle against terrorism -- outlined a succession plan to replace him.

US officials told The New York Times the plan would see the Vice-Chief of the Army, Ahsan Saleem Hyat, take over from General Musharraf as head of the military and former banker Mohammedmian Soomro installed as president, with General Hyat wielding most of the power.

Sorry, Pervez. It just ain't workin' out, you know? I mean, I know we said all those nice things about you -- heck, you even got to go on The Daily Show and get some laughs -- but, well, shit, you're not doin' a good enough job gettin' the terrorists for us. I mean, we'd do it ourselves but, you know, we're kinda busy in Iraq. Surgin'.

We want our kind of people running your godforsaken country, get it?

Or, hey, maybe we're just fucking with your mind.

Trust us. We know what we're doing. Everything will work out for the best.

Or not: "This PNAC-driven foreign policy has the anti-Midas touch of absolutely screwing up everything within reach." This would likely be no exception.