Many Pakistanis believe their army has been fighting what amounts to a proxy war for Americans against Islamic militants in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, and at the same time experiencing horrendous "blow back" in the form of dozens of suicide bombings that have ravaged Pakistani cities and towns.
"All these years, Musharraf did America's bidding," said flower vendor Abdul Rashid, whose soldier son died fighting insurgents in Pakistan's restive northwest. "And we are the ones who have suffered for it."
That chill was much in evidence during a visit last week by two senior American diplomats.
"Hands off, please, Uncle Sam!" a headline in the News, a nationally circulated daily, admonished arriving Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte and Richard Boucher, the assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asian affairs.
Nawaz Sharif, the outspoken leader of the junior party in the new ruling coalition that trounced Musharraf's party in elections last month, held a get-acquainted session with the American envoys. Immediately after, he blamed cooperation with the United States against Islamic militants for causing Pakistani deaths.
"It is unacceptable that . . . we make our own country a killing field," he said at a news conference.
Even grizzled tribal elders jumped in to give the visiting Americans a piece of their mind, reminding them during a visit to the rugged frontier zone that the jirga, or traditional tribal council, has for centuries been the preferred method of problem-solving.
Despite the anger directed at Washington, there still are many areas in which the new government is likely to work with the United States, including counter-terrorism.
"It wouldn't be fair to characterize it as a change in fundamental goals," said Husain Haqqani, a Boston University professor who is expected to play a senior foreign policy role in the new government.
"In fact, in my opinion, the elected government will be far more effective because it will have popular legitimacy, and whatever commitments are made to the Americans will not be undone on legal or other grounds," Haqqani said.
Musharraf was thought to have given tacit approval for U.S. airstrikes in the tribal areas, including a missile attack that killed a senior Al Qaeda figure in January.
