December 24,
2008: In the last seven years, Pakistan has been hit with an increasing number
of suicide bomber attacks. There have been 140 since September 11, 2001. So far this year
there have been 61 (killing 889 and wounding 2,072), while last year there were 57. This sudden increase
in attacks has shifted attitudes towards Islamic terrorists. There's less
admiration for the bombers, and more fear of them. Most of the casualties have
been civilians, including many children. This does not do much to gain
popularity for the cause.
Ten times as
many suicide bomb attacks took place in Iraq since 2003, and the carnage among
civilians turned most Iraqis, and most Moslems in general, against al Qaeda.
About 75 percent of the suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan took place in the
tribal territories, along the Afghan border, where the goal of the bombers was
mainly to terrorize the government into withdrawing security forces from the
tribal lands, and coercing hostile tribes to support (or stop opposing) the
Islamic militant forces (Taliban and al Qaeda.)
A quarter of
the suicide bomber attacks taking place in the lowland cities, which is enough
bloodshed to create a hostile atmosphere for the Islamic militants in these
densely populated urban areas. The recent attacks in Mumbai, India, drew a
certain amount of sympathy from many Pakistanis (although many now believe the
attacks were staged by the Mossad or CIA). Despite that, there is growing
popular support for this year's war against the Taliban. Al Qaeda has been
under attack for several years now, and many of these terrorists have been
driven back into the tribal territories. As much as Pakistanis dislike fighting
the Pushtun tribes, the Islamic terrorist violence cannot be tolerated. This is
especially true since these attacks have gotten more numerous and vicious in
the last two years. The Islamic radicals have challenged the Pakistani
government to either step aside and allow a religious dictatorship, or fight to
prevent that from happening. The fighting, by over 120,000 troops, plus many
police, has been going on for over six months now, and will continue into 2009.
