I was afraid there would be violence in Pakistan. Tight security surrounding the return of Benazir Bhutto who has received threats from militant commander Baitullah Mehsud didn't prevent a bomb attack from killing at least 30 people in Karachi a short while ago. Bhutto's return has been allowed under the National Reconciliation Ordinance instituted by Musharaf the day before the recent elections giving here immunity from corruption charges. Part of the deal was her party's abstention from voting and a boycott in protest of Musharraf's nomination made the results seem far less than a democratic expression of the people's choice.
According to South Asia News, opinion runs from approval for a move toward actual Democracy and opposition to what is seen as a US brokered deal to make Pakistan seem more like a democracy while allowing strong man Musharraf to remain in power.
Whatever it really is, today's developments do illustrate the fragility of Pakistan and the fragility of the idea that democracy simply pops up of its own accord when undemocratic governments are toppled.
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Where does blame lie for the Bhutto bomb blast?
Imran
IMRAN.TV
It's 110 dead from a blast and it shows the utter, indefensible savagery of savages of the death cult that is Islamic fundamentalism. Pakistan has about 160,000,000 people and if only 1% are the mentally ill al qaeda-types that's 1.6 million potential suicide bombing savages. Until the other 99% of these countries stand up against this type of mental illness the world is doomed.
Pakistan was born a democracy and remained one until Musharraf and his CIA-handlers decided Pakistan would be a democracy no more.
Any faux lip service the U.S., Musharraf and Bhutto pay to democracy is just that. Lip service.
Imran,
Thanks for your insight. There is certainly more there than meets my eye. I would not doubt that it was a Qaeda operation, but it's very hard for an outsider to gain any insight.
The US certainly does have some explaining to do concerning the governments we have supported and those we have toppled. Promotion of Democracy doesn't seem to have entered into the equation except as an occasional excuse.
All democracies are fragile and unstable, in my opinion, and I hope we will start to notice how much our own is in peril, but Stability and Democracy seem to be too nearly mutually exclusive in Pakistan and that's not a good thing.
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