A Fine Balance.(Pakistan's anti-Taliban campaign)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

When the United States went to war against the Taliban in Afghanistan last week, Pakistan launched a simultaneous anti-Taliban campaign as well--within its own borders. President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, has made it clear he's ready to crack down on fundamentalists who try to undercut the government's support for the antiterror coalition. Last week he moved quickly to do that, placing the leaders of fundamentalist parties under house arrest, suppressing demonstrations and deporting Afghan refugees who took to the streets. All schools were closed on Friday, the Muslim holy day. Many madrasas, the religious schools that trained Afghanistan's Taliban, were shut down indefinitely. By the end of the week the military had managed to keep control in the streets. But it's clear that de-Talibanizing Pakistan--a country that has increasingly bowed to the will of a vocal fundamentalist minority in recent years--is going to be far from easy.

Given the fact that he leads a military regime, General Musharraf's first concern was his own military brass. Since 1979 the Army has promoted fundamentalism in Pakistani society, and since 1996 it has been the Taliban's biggest supporter abroad. So just as American planes started bombing Afghanistan on Oct. 7, Musharraf mustered support among key generals to reshuffle the top command. One hard-liner, Lt. Gen. Muhammed Aziz, was shifted from his post as the power-ful corps commander in Lahore to a cere-monial position as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Most important, Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, the influential chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate--the country's CIA--was replaced with a moderate, Eshanul Haq. (Mahmood should have been in line for the powerful post of vice chief of staff of the Army, and resigned in protest when a more junior officer got it instead.) Mahmood had presided over Pakistan's military support for the Taliban, and though he changed his position on them after Sept. 11, military observers say he didn't change fast or far enough for Musharraf's liking. "Musharraf now has a team that is totally with him and totally committed," says retired Gen. Talat Massoud, a former chief of staff. "If anyone has different views, they are no longer in the Army."

At the same time, the general can lay claim to the support of mainstream political parties, most of which are otherwise bitterly opposed to his undemocratic rule. The largest demonstration in Karachi last week was sponsored by the Mutahida Qaumi Movement Party, which brought 20,000 supporters onto the streets to support the antiterrorism fight. Even the Pakistan People's Party, led by ...