| Summary/Abstract |
Pakistan has paid a very heavy price for a military ruler’s decision to support the US-led “war on terror” in the region. That decision, made by Gen. Pervez Musharraf more than 14 years ago, led to the expansion of militant groups in the country; the introduction of suicide bombings, which were unheard of before 2004; and a major economic downturn that brought high unemployment and inequality. Just before Musharraf came to power in 1999, only 17 percent of Pakistan’s population lived at or below the poverty line. By 2008, 37 percent had fallen into this category. These slow-motion ripple effects of the US-led war in Afghanistan were not unexpected, but most of them have been extremely painful for ordinary Pakistanis to live through.
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