Pakistan digging out

Here's a link to the Register's editorial this week on the rioting in Pakistan that finally has seemed to settle down a little in the wake of the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Poor Pakistan, which some have called an essentially ungovernable country (not necessarily a bad thing, but in Pakistan's case it is). The significant U.S. interest is that Pakistan's nuclear weapons remain secure. It has been reported that U.S. special forces are standing by to grab Pakistan's nukes in the event the government falls or a civil war erupts. Not a bad use of those forces, though opne naturally hopes they won't be needed for that mission.

Bush's policies set up the Pakistan crisis

Almost all the news out of Pakistan these days is discouraging, with former prime minister and great American Hope Benazir Bhutto (who in some ways is no great prize; the corruption charges that led to her being exiled were not without substance) under house arrest again and the demonstrations she has tried to lead quashed. One of the sharper analyses of how Pakistan came to such a sad pass comes from Ivan Eland of the Independent Institute. He says the Bush administration exacerbated Pakistan's problems by occupying not one, but two Muslim countries. That created the best recruiting tool al-Qaida ever had, and the recruiting has easily outpaced the various campaigns against al-Qaida.

Stability won't be reached (and maybe not for quite a while even then) until we let Afghanistan be run by Afghans and reduce or end subsidies to Pakistan. In the early stages, around 2002, Musharraf gave us a tacit green light to go after al-Qaida and Taliban forces in the northwest provinces, but the administration was already focused on Iraq and dropped the ball. Since then our lavish subsidies have made most Pakistanis think Musharraf is a U.S. puppet, making him unpopular, ineffective and desperate. Nice work.

Bhutto determined after asassination attempt

Well, Benazir Bhutto's return to Pakistan was eventful enough, what with a suicide bombing that might well have killed her if she hadn't been tired and ducked down into the truck carrying her. Unfortunately, the Islamist rebels (some al-Qaida, some Taliban, some homegrown) are armed, dangerous and determined. Pakistan has been described as the most ungovernable country in the world, and it may have become even less governable.

Bhutto back in Pakistan

What struck me watching CNN's coverage of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's return to Pakistan was the air of what almost amounted to hero worship. She may turn out to be an effective counterweight to the Islamic militants who are making so much trouble lately, and perhaps to the more dictatorial impulses of President Musharraf, but she's not quite a secular saviour. The corruption charges against her when she left eight years ago, involving millions of dollars and Swiss bank accounts and all were pretty serious and fairly well documented. Considering that Pakistan has nukes it's prudent to wish her well, but really!