If Petraeus has his timeline right and things go from bad to unthinkable in Pakistan, choosing between a military dictatorship or the Taliban will be a no-brainer. But it sounds like there's no guarantee of even having that choice. According to this Fox news report, Patraeus believes that the Pakistani army is" superior" to the country's wobbly civilian government and
could conceivably survive even if Zardari's government falls to the Taliban.
Conceivably? That doesn't sound so "superior" to me.
