Pakistan Update

A lot has happened since I last blogged on Pakistan. Here's a brief recap for you.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by a suicide bomber. Bhutto was an ally of the U.S. and one of the main proponents of real democracy. Her death leaves a power vacuum that is causing a lot of unrest in Pakistan - some of the other candidates are boycotting the upcoming election, some are still planning to go ahead, even though the election is assumed to be rigged.

The U.S. is concerned about the unrest in Pakistan, especially since it is driven by Islamic militants, the same type of people driving the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some results of the unrest could include higher fuel and food prices, which in turn could continue the increase of Taliban ranks as the terrorist group buys off hungry Pakistanis. Al Qaeda and other Islamic militants appear to have turned their attention from their losing effort in Iraq to building support and unleashing chaos in Pakistan.

But this is not just a Pakistani problem - this is the global War on Terror, and the conflict in Pakistan is tied to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. While 9/11 brought the conflict to our shores, it certainly wasn't the beginning of the war, nor will Iraq be the end of it. We need to understand what's at stake, and recognize that these Middle Eastern conflicts are simply multiple fronts in the same war.

Al Qaeda seems to be relying on their supporters in the Taliban to find a new home base now that Iraq is a lost cause for them, and Pakistan fits the bill. There are some rumors that Al Qaeda was responsible for the Bhutto murder, but whether or not that is true, they certainly plan to benefit from the chaos that has resulted.

So why should you care about this?
On the basis of the statement that what's happening in Pakistan is part of the larger War on Terror, any success by Al Qaeda or other Islamic militants to take over the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan is a grave threat to the U.S. and other Western nations. Think it's something that can't happen? There's a report that U.S. special forces are being held on standby for precisely that scenario.

This is something that you should keep an eye on. We may not have to wait for Iran to nuke up before having to confront a nuclear-armed terrorist nation.

God help us.

There's my two cents.