From the start, the Pakistan army objected to the occupation of Kabul by the Afghan Northern Alliance, the initial domination of the government by non-Pashtuns, and the refusal of the Americans to involve Pakistan in helping rebuild the Afghan army.

BBC: Deepening military rift between the US and Pakistan

Al-Sadr, widely popular in Iraq's Shiite heartland, opposes the U.S. occupation of Iraq and, during the war, his Mehdi Army militia has fought coalition and Iraqi forces.

CNN: Al-Sadr orders his bloc's ministers to quit government

Even some preachers loyal to the fiery Shia preacher Muqtada al-Sadr, who used to sneer at the notion of a fair vote under American occupation, have become far more pliant since he ended the uprising of his rebel Mahdi Army in the Shias' holiest city, Najaf, in August.

ECONOMIST: Iraq