Often during Pakistan's turbulent history has the army's 111th Brigade swept out of its headquarters in Rawalpindi, scooted to Islamabad 20 minutes away, and effortlessly taken over the government. These days, under General Ashfaq Kayani, the soldiers know it is wiser to rule from behind the scenes, with a weak civilian government taking the blame for the country's problems. On November 22nd the army heaped humiliation on the government, pressing it to jettison Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, a smooth operator, over allegations that he crafted an offer to rein in the Pakistani army and its spy agency in return for American help in averting a feared coup. The offer to the American administration was made in an unsigned memo, which Mr Haqqani denies writing.
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