Beyond the Attacks

Riddle is certianly the right word to define Pakistan's political circumstances - as suggested by Jayshree Bajoria in her article in Council on Foreign relations website. Pakistan has the most diverse group of situations all jumbled into absolute caos. It's hard to believe that the country is still able to function with all these shortcomings and with the presence of many potentially dangerous elements that could spin the situation out of control at any given moment.

The existance of anti west, stubborn groups that are willing to go violent is hard enough for western powers to swollow. Add to it, the existance of neuclear capability of any sort alongwith corrupt admisitration, makes any western leader shiver in their dreams.

And if that's not enough, there's political instability in shape of corrupt political parties who have all had some share of power at least once and will do anything to get it back - hostile neighbours (not just India) that would take any oppertunity to undermine whatever stability pakistan does have - Military dictatorship, that west seems to have come into terms with but thinks it's not bearing fruits any more - and the world renowned secret services that are out of control.

More recently an independent private digital media and rejuvinated judiciary and Courts0 have also entered the mix to make it even more complicated and out of control.

Even though most western newspapers and magazines focus on the War on Terror and any violent attempt is attributed to the Islamists, Taliban or Al-Qaeda (NewsWeek)- like Attacks on Benazir Bhutto (BBC News) that clearly have footprints of internal power struggle than Al-Qaeda. Benazir also endorsed this in her letter to President naming people that are either part of the government, had a hand in setting up corruption cases against her, or the ex-ISI cheif who she's had a personal vandetta with for a while. Even though the war on terror has a very little direct impact internally yet it does have indirect implications. In the war on terror general public opinion inclines more towards anti western sentiment for supposedly dragging pakistan into this war by indirect threats than the sympathy towards western need to engage in this war.

Aftermath of Benazir Attacks

'US contingency plan for Pak needed' (Times of India)
The US government should prepare a 'contingency plan' for Pakistan in case Pervez Musharraf regime falls because of presence of nuclear weapons, a top opposition lawmaker has said...

Pakistani politics gets dirty after Bhutto attack (Reuters)
KARACHI (Reuters) - Bad blood between Benazir Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf's allies in Pakistan bubbled to the surface on Tuesday, after an attack on the opposition leader that killed 139 people four days earlier.

Female suicide squad threatens to attack Bhutto (Times of India)
Farooq Naik, a senior lawyer, said that the chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party had received a letter purportedly written by the leader of a female suicide squad...

Pakistan considers procession ban (Al-Jazeera)
Plan comes as a minister rejects Bhutto's demand for foreign help in attack probe...

Benazir mulls ''virtual'' rallies (The News Pakistan)
WASHINGTON: Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto said Tuesday she is considering "virtual" mass rallies and campaigning via phone to avoid mass viol...

ISI & Terrorism as per CFR-US

Below is the viewpoint of the Council of Foreign Relations about Pakistan's ISI. It is very relevent within the sphere of - Pakistani politics - especially after the twin blasts in the Benazir Bhutto's homecoming procession - the global(Bush's) war on terrorism - and India and Afghanistan's claims of ISI's involvement.

ISI's Background and the viewpoint of The Council Of Foreign Relations-US

Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has long faced accusations of meddling in the affairs of its neighbors. A range of officials inside and outside Pakistan have stepped up suggestions of links between the ISI and terrorist groups in recent years. In autumn 2006, a leaked report by a British Defense Ministry think tank charged, “Indirectly Pakistan (through the ISI) has been supporting terrorism and extremism—whether in London on 7/7, or in Afghanistan, or Iraq.” ...

Oct 19th - Bomb in Karachi

126 dead as blasts hit near former PM Bhutto in Pakistan (Jerusalem Post)
Suicide bombing hurts hundreds as crowd welcomes the former premier after eight years in exile; Bhutto remains unhurt...

Bombs Target Bhutto Procession in Pakistan (Wall Street Journal)
Bhutto was targeted by twin bombings that killed up to 126 in Karachi. The former premier, who wasn't injured, returned to Pakistan earlier in the day after an eight-year exile...

India condemns attack on Bhutto in Pakistan (The News Pakistan)
NEW DELHI: India condemned on Friday the bloody attack that targeted former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi and urged determined ac...

SC adjourns Musharraf re-election case till Monday (The News Pakistan)
ISLAMABAD: An 11-member bench of the Supreme Court hearing petitions against the legality of president General Pervez Musharraf’s October 6 election w...

President orders for report on blasts within 48 hours
RAWALPINDI: President General Pervez Musharraf has issued directives to intelligence agencies for submitting report on Karachi bomb blasts within 48 h...

Thur-Oct 11th ki Khabrein

Bhutto sticks to Pakistan return (Al-Jazeera)
The former prime minister rejects a call by Pervez Musharraf to delay her return. Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister of Pakistan, is set to return to the country next week despite Pervez Musharraf, the president, calling for her to wait until the legality of his re-election is decided...

India PM meets IAEA head as nuclear deal clock ticks (Reuters)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog head, Mohamed ElBaradei, made a strong pitch for the India-U.S. nuclear deal on Wednesday saying it was essential for India's economic growth, despite concerns a domestic row could scupper the pact...

Musharraf tells Benazir to delay return (The Hindu)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has asked former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to delay her return to Pakistan from a self-imposed exile till the Supreme Court decides on petitions challenging his re-election...

Thousands protest Western-style stores in India (Reuters)
MUMBAI (Reuters) - More than 20,000 traders, farmers and shopkeepers protested on Wednesday against the entry of private retail giants like Wal-Mart into India which they say would destroy millions of livelihoods...

US to continue cooperation with Pakistan: Townsend (The News Pakistan)
WASHINGTON: The White House reiterated that Pakistan''s president, Pervez Musharraf, had been a helpful ally in fighting terrorism and Pakistan offered...

Benazir, Zardari, Sherpao file petitions for withdrawal of references (The News Pakistan)
ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, her spouse Asif Ali Zardari and federal minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao have filed petitions in Acc...

Mon-Oct 8th ki Khabrein

The Power Elite Playbook, the Anglo-American Chessboard Part 4 - The People's Voice (ThePeoplesVoice)
The People's Voice The Power Elite Playbook, the Anglo-American Chessboard Part 4 The People's Voice, TN - 20 minutes ago A decade or two is irrelevant to the ultimate establishment of the North American Union (a step towards one world government ) which was formally organized ...

Majority of Pakistanis term Musharraf an ideal leader: US survey ( The News Pakistan)
WASHINGTON: President General Pervez Musharraf, an obvious and ideal choice for leadership of Pakistan in comparison to Ms. Benazir Bhutto and Mian…

Chopper escorting Musharraf crashes (Times Of India)
Four soldiers on board the chopper have died. The President's spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, was also on the chopper which crashed in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir…

IAEA chief arrives in India as nuclear row rages (Reuters)
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog head arrives in India on Monday on a long scheduled trip that has turned into a potential political flashpoint as a nuclear deal with the United States threatens to spark snap elections.

Here's what I found fer ya ! ! ! ! !