"Pakistanis wonder if new president is equal to challenge; Widower of slain leader wins election" by Mubashir Zaidi, Los Angeles Times | September 7, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A reminder of the violence gripping the country came even as the votes were being cast. At least 30 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a police checkpoint in the northwestern city of Peshawar, and elsewhere in the restive province, 24 people died in clashes after insurgents tried to kidnap a village elder.
And CUI BONO, folks? "Al-CIA-Duh" again?
Zardari, like Bhutto, is seen as friendly to the West, a stance that is politically difficult for any Pakistani leader amid a growing furor over US attacks on militants taking shelter in Pakistan's tribal areas. A ground raid Wednesday killed as many as 20 people.
Pakistan denounces such incursions as a violation of its sovereignty, but many people believe Zardari tacitly has given the Bush administration the go-ahead for unilateral military actions.
In what might have been a bid to counter that perception, Pakistan's government announced Friday that it was suspending shipments of US military supplies through the Khyber Pass, a vital supply route that runs through one of the tribal areas and into Afghanistan.
That's the first the U.S. media has mentioned that, and it is in a paragraph then they MOVE ALONG!!!!
Mindful of the sensitivities, US officials were positive but low-key about Zardari's election.
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