November 12, 2007:
Pakistani Islamic militants
are concerned over the military government's crackdown on democrats. This
political quarrel has made the military more hostile to Islamic radicals, and
has even caused crackdowns on groups that concentrate on terrorist operations
in Indian Kashmir. As Winter sets in in Kashmir, Islamic terrorists are told to
stay in Kashmir, and not try and sneak back to Pakistan, as is usually the case
before Winter. The Islamic militants just across the border ("Line Of
Control") from Kashmir fear attacks by the army on their bases.
The political unrest in Pakistan has not aroused
enough people to bring the government down. The problem is that everyone knows
what is happening here. The political parties want power back, and when they
get it, there will be another round of really bad corruption and misrule. Not that
the generals are much better, and that's the problem. Pakistani's haven't got
much in the way of choices, which explains the widespread popularity of Islamic
radicalism. That has peaked, however, after seeing what happened when Islamic
radicals were in charge in Afghanistan and Iran. The political parties are not
able to put on really large scale demonstrations because most Pakistanis don't
see the point. The generals will go, as they always have, the politicians will
return and make such a big mess that the generals will return once more.
Meanwhile, India and the rest of the world will move ahead, while poor Pakistan
remains mired in corruption and inept bureaucrats. Musharraf gets a lot of
respect from most Pakistanis because, during his rule, the economy has
improved. For most Pakistanis, that's the most important thing in their
lives.
November 11, 2007:The United States is paying
close attention to who is backing who in the Pakistani, and where the Pakistani
nuclear weapons are. Neither situation is entirely clear. It's known that
Musharraf has opposition inside the military, and must pay close attention to
the opinions of a dozen or so senior officers. India and Western governments
are most concerned about the security of Pakistan's nukes, because if Islamic
radicals got hold of one, they have already said they would use it.
In Kashmir, two Islamic
terrorists took refuge in a hotel and held off police for three days.
November 10, 2007:In
Kashmir, five Islamic terrorists took refuge in a rural village, an after a
four day siege, were killed, along with four soldiers.
November 9, 2007:Under
pressure from the political parties, military dictator and elected president
Musharraf of Pakistan promised new parliamentary elections by February 15th. In
northwest Pakistan, a suicide bomber killed himself and four others after
failing to get into the house of a government official.
November 6, 2007: In
Pakistan, the military government arrested most of the senior opposition
leaders and tried to shut down the media. This did not work, because the
Internet still allowed news reports to get through. Internet access is
widespread among the middle class. But that is a minority of the population.
For most people, the only access to what is going on is via short-wave radio
(which is more common in rural area) and broadcasts like the BBC Urdu language
news.