Comments on: Suicide Bombers Near Bhutto Kill 126 in Pakistan

By: Anderson

Anderson — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:08:46 +0000

Are we automatically ruling out that this was set up by the government to look like an Islamist attack?

Assuming of course that the target was Bhutto herself.

I see in the WaPo that the Pakistanis aren't all sure:

Angry members of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party said the government had been lax in providing protection, with some even suggesting that elements of the government had been complicit.

By: Richard Gardner

Richard Gardner — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 08:04:35 +0000

anjin,
I don't see where it said Taliban (yet, though they will be one of a dozen groups to claim credit). The sad fact is that South Asia has been wracked by ethnic violence (and in South Asia ethnic also usually implies religious differences) since before the partitioning.

I think you have a major case of US-centrism to assume that the actions of the USA control the ethnic/religious actions around the world. I'll give you that the perceptions of US influence can be the trigger, but the ammo underneath was simmering for generations, so not if this year, then the next (it isn't the actual actions, but what the local public perceives).

Unfortunately, even if you identify the root case for the violence, there is little you can do in a academic sense against it. Maybe a charismatic leader can convince folks, or maybe he is the next Turkmenbashi. And who is in charge of the USA doesn't matter. The people in this region will still keep blowing each other up. (Moslems, Hindus, Sikhs, etc.)

By: anjin-san

anjin-san — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:55:26 +0000

Great. The Taliban, which Bush told us he destroyed years ago (liar, ignoramus, or both?) is now on the march in Pakistan. Bush's great ally, Musharraf, is clinging to power by a thread. Pakistan has nukes. Cool, we can look forward to a nuclear Taliban.

But Bush and co are focused like a laser on starting a war in Iran. Must be because the Iraq war has gone so well.