Vantage point




Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Pakistan's very own Waco?

Pardon the cliche, but the chickens are finally coming home to roost in Pakistan. A little too much home. Right in the spic-n-span articifical reality capital Islamabad. The crisis over the Lal Masjid has all the makings of being Pakistan's very own Waco. I mean strictly as a news story of course, not in terms of what happens.

What Pakistan has done in Baluchistan would make Waco look like a school picnic. But then Pakistan was always more about Punjab and Sindh. No one anywhere gave a damn about the Baluchistan massacres. It was too far away to affect us, so India didn't give a damn. It had no oil, so the US government didn't give a damn. And Baluchistan isn't buddhist, so the US media didn't give a damn.

This stand-off, thrillingly enough, is happening right in Islamabad. Extremists are showing the Pakistani army the finger right in their very den. This should be good. Get the pop-corn.

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