Burqa'd Bombers
Well, after all, why not burqas? After all, determined warriors hoping to escape detection have often utilized the expedient of women's garb to foil pursuers or realization of their murderous intent. The practise really knows no geography, religion or ideology.It is a practical and often successful expedient. When all else fails. Or when there is a failure of imagination. Or when the potential for success becomes realizable on the basis of its use. All's fair in apparel and war, evidently.
Needless to say, for those who represent the victimized side of the equation, for the enemy to disguise himself as a vulnerable and thus non-threatening woman incapable of wreaking destruction the gambit is seen as beneath contempt.
Until the tide turns and it becomes feasible as an workable alternative to clothe one's intent in a garment beyond reproach or suspicion.
Well, a suicide bomber clothed in a burqa blew himself to oblivion in northwest Pakistan, successfully persuading sixteen innocents (ooops - four were police officers) to accompany him in his voyage to glory. He ascending to Paradise as befits a warrior of Islam dedicated to jihad; they descending to that Other Place of heated controversy.
That's what comes of forcing show-downs. As when Pakistan's embattled and frustrated Pervez Musharraf sent his troops to close down the Red Mosque, earning himself the enraged response of North Waziristan's tribal leaders, comfortably aligned with al-Qaeda.
That's what makes the scat really hit the fan. With all his problems one wonders why he's so anxious to cling to power?
And here's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto claiming that were she to return to power she would herself route el-Qaeda. Failing which, due not to determination but avowed difficulties, she would call upon the United States to launch a strategic military strike inside Pakistan to eliminate al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden outright, freeing the country from its vexing influence.
Does she really understand the wrath she will bring down upon herself from among her own people, her judiciary, her armed forces, her police, her religious cohorts, her fierce tribal chiefs? As it is, more such attacks are being planned, it would seem, and the country awaits them with bitterly bated breath.
Islamist militants in Pakistan's border regions seem to be enjoying the freedom to attack at will, embattling Pakistani troops, surrounding them with superior, armed numbers; killing, kidnapping and celebrating their bold guerrilla successes.
Labels: Terrorism, Troublespots
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, October 02, 2007
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