Keep an eye on Pakistan
Bombings in Karachi target former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (latest count is 132 dead and several hundred wounded)
Pakistan as a country is at the crossroads when it comes to the “War on Terror”. Parts of the country is embroiled in a de facto civil war and Al Qaeda, the Taliban and their tribal allies are increasingly flexing their muscles. The ‘Long War’ is far from over. The main theater of combat operations may shift from time to time and even as their influence drains away in Iraq they are shifting their emphasis back into parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many of the principle players in the latest round of war between the West and Islamic fascism can be found here. It’s going to get ugly in Pakistan. Very ugly.
Heres a link to CNN’s video of the blast.
In early October, Baitullah Mehsud, the powerful Taliban commander in South Waziristan whose troops are holding almost 300 Pakistani soldiers in captivity, threatened to kill Bhutto upon her return.
“My men will welcome Bhutto on her return,” Baitullah told a Senator. “We don’t accept President General Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto because they only protect the US interest and see things through its glasses. They’re only acceptable if they wear the Pakistani glasses.” The Pakistani government has accused Baitullah of orchestrating a suicide campaign throughout Pakistan, yet seeks to renegotiate “peace agreements” that would allow him to remain free and in control of the tribal regions.
“Many threats have been made from left, right and centre to try and intimidate not only me, but most important of all, the people of Pakistan so that they should not go to the airport to receive me. The threats come from Afghan militants, Arab militants and the Red Mosque militants but the people of Pakistan are with me.”
“I don’t believe that a true Muslim will make an attack on me… Islam forbids suicide bombings … Anyone who attacks me would burn in hell.”
“The way to make a change is not through death and violence. We do not have to agree on everything, but we should agree to resolve our differences peacefully.”
- Former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto (quote was made yesterday).
Dave - the Infidel Sage
gurusteve
E the Wise
Andre the Defiant
pg - your humble messenger
hairybeast
thompaine
I agree wholeheartedly on this one. I’m not nearly as worried about Iran as I am about Pakistan. On the positive side, though, at least there wouldn’t be quite the same sort of international political entanglements if we had to intervene.
Ditto, Wes.
The main theater of combat operations may shift from time to time and even as their influence drains away in Iraq they are shifting their emphasis back into parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Thank God we went into Iraq and kicked them out of their strongholds there.
I’ve always thought that it was nuts how we treat a country like Pakistan with such kid gloves. Especially considering that they’re responsible for such flagrant acts of nuclear weapons technology proliferation and that they openly admit to being a terrorist port of entry/stomping ground.
A contributor to my blog is from Pakistan and he thinks that Bhutto is an even worse thug than Musharraf.
Welcome to Conclub Mike. Everyone should drop by Mike’s blog Iowa Liberal. I can’t say I share very many of their views, I can say that their posts are well informed and thought out. They also have a flair for writing and a good sense of humor.
I have to agree with everyone too. Things do seem to be coming to a head.
That’s funny, its people like Bhutto that oppose the death cult of beheaders and suicide bombers. What we are seeing here is the tentative steps towards a ‘political marriage’ between the forces of Bhutto and Musharraf against the Islamic fundamentalists in an attempt to save Pakistan. The old ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’. And an alliance that I back and hope will be successful. Because in the end, if they are not able to solve ‘the problem’ in Pakistan then eventually we will have to.
Thanks for the welcome, pg. I appreciate it. Honestly, I’ve only read your contributions over at Dana’s and, believe it or not, all of us at Iowa Liberal are secret readers of his blog, but like me we’ve all got busy professional lives and between IL, bills and figuring out whose turn it is to clean the cat box, we don’t get around a lot but the bits and pieces we do read of your stuff is pretty good. That and your blog isn’t afraid of being funny once in a while and there’s nothing more annoying than bloggers who take themselves way too seriously.
Yeah Mike, we decided to ’scoop up’ PG before someone else got him. Plus we decided he needed a slightly bigger soapbox than just the comment sections of various blogs to voice his views. We’ve enjoyed his contributions to Conclub in both the roles of commenter and contributor.
[...] October I mentioned the importance of keeping an eye on Pakistan. In rather dramatic fashion we see why that was, and continues, to be an important and worthy [...]