A Governor's Assassination has Delivered Pakistan to the Extremists

Washington Post ^ | 1/21/2011 | Pamela Constable

[Qbert]

At a fashionable plaza in this serene Pakistani capital, a few dozen people gather in the evenings at the spot where provincial governor Salman Taseer was gunned down on Jan. 4.

[Snip]

Fifteen miles away, in a working-class alley of Rawalpindi, thousands of people flock each day to the home of Mumtaz Qadri, the elite police guard who killed Taseer. Qadri is in jail now, but the site has become a shrine to what many Pakistanis see as his heroic act against a blasphemer who insulted their prophet. Someone has even put up posters of Qadri riding a white horse to heaven.

In the days since Taseer's death, Pakistan has become a different country. The veneer of Western democracy has been ripped away, the liberal elite has been cowed into silence, and the civilian government has beaten a hasty retreat from morality, authority and law. Islamic extremist groups, once dismissed as unable to win more than a few seats in Parliament, are filling the streets, with bearded acolytes waving flags and chanting like giddy crowds at a post-game victory rally.

Suddenly, a crucial U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism seems incapable of stopping a tide of intolerant and violent Islam at home - raising doubts about Pakistan's ability to play a constructive role in the war against the Taliban or to help the United States extricate its forces from Afghanistan, Pakistan's northern neighbor.

Qadri, who happily confessed to murdering the politician he was assigned to protect, has little chance of being convicted. Instead of suffering ostracism, he was greeted with handshakes and garlands by courthouse lawyers, who offered to defend him pro bono. The provincial court system, notorious for freeing radical Islamic leaders, is unlikely to condemn a national religious hero.

[screaminsunshine]

So now they have the Nukes.

[Freddd]

A Governor’s Assassination has Delivered Pakistan to the Extremists
—

Must be Tea Partiers...

[Qbert]

It’s coming, I’m afraid.

[reagan_fanatic]

Yup. It was only a matter of time. Soon the islamists will have what they’ve long sought after, and the West will be scrambling to prevent them from setting one off in a Western capitol someday.

[Myrddin]

Have food, water, potassium iodide and other essentials on hand. You'll need an 81 day supply of potassium iodide if there is only a single day event of nukes. That's for each person in your household. Pets too.