Pakistan's New Odd Couple?

His political survival at stake, a crucial U.S. ally in the war on terrorism is forced to contemplate a deal doomed to fail

Bhutto: Bertrand Langlois/ AFP / Getty; Pervez: Arooq Naeem/ AFP / Getty

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto(L)in London on October 19 2006 and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf(R) in Rawalpindi on November 16, 2005.

Even in a country with a history of fierce political rivals coming together for their own survival, the idea of a union between Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto seems preposterous. After all, they hate each other with an undisguised passion. She has a phobia about military dictators--her politician father was executed by one--and has described General Musharraf as an incompetent ruler who indulges in "puerile brinkmanship." In his view, she and Nawaz Sharif, another former Prime Minister, epitomize the weak, deeply corrupt democracy he overthrew in a bloodless 1999 coup. Just the mention of their...

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