Marking Ashoura celebration with Pakistani destabilization?
Topic: War on Terror
This news ain't so good...

HANGU, Pakistan (AFP - Sectarian Muslim violence marred the holiest day of the Shiite calendar, with at least 34 people killed and more than 100 injured in attacks and clashes in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Officials suspected militants linked to Sunni Muslims for the initial attack, which came with Muslim sentiment around the world already near boiling point over cartoons of Prophet Mohammed first published in a Danish newspaper. In neighbouring Afghanistan at least three people were killed and 52 wounded later during clashes between the two sects in the western city of Herat, doctors said. Around 500 troops were rushed to Herat but were unable to control the violence, a defence ministry official told AFP. 'The situation is deteriorating,' he said."

The anger over these damn stupid cartoons seems be turning into to something much more serious. Sunnis and Shiites fighting each other in Afghansistan is very unusual, from what I understand, although not so much is Pakistan. I don't know which is worse at this point, Afghanistan falling apart, even more than it already is, or Pakistan falling into a sectarian basket-case a la Iraq. Probably the latter would be the scarier scenario because they've got the bomb. The only reason we're focusing all our attention on Iran right now is because of a fear of turbaned Mullahs getting their hands on a bomb. But just imagine OBL becoming the new leader of Pakistan! 'Have Islamic bomb, will travel!'

President Pervez Mussharraf is all that is preventing this from happening and he's not exactly the most beloved leader Pakistan has ever had. He's had two assassination attempts made against him, he's pissed off certain elements of the military and the ISI, he's got the Kashmiri mess, a war going on in Warziristan---and us not helping by blowing up women and children---and there's Baluchistan.

Globalsecurity.org says:

"The province of Baluchistan, which borders both Iran and Afghanistan, remains notorious for cross-border smuggling and has more recently been infiltrated by former members of the Taliban and Al Qaida operatives."

Apparently, including OBL himself...

newsmax.com: "Former Navy Secretary John Lehman said Thursday that the Pentagon has pinpointed the location of Osama bin Laden in the Baluchistan Region of Western Pakistan, but is holding back on rounding him up because it could destabilize the government of Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf.

There is an American presence in the area, but we can't just send in troops," he told the Sun. "If we did, we could have another Vietnam, and the United States cannot afford that right now."

Isn't that intersting?

And he might still be getting help from Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI. James Risen and Judith Miller(Gag!) reported shortly after 9/11 that the ISI, "has had an indirect but longstanding relationship with Al Qaeda, turning a blind eye for years to the growing ties between Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, according to American officials....American officials said the depth of support within elements of the I.S.I. for a war on the Taliban and Al Qaeda remained uncertain, and a former chief of the agency has become one of the most vocal critics of American policy in Pakistan. The former director general, Hameed Gul, complained in an interview with a Pakistani newspaper that the Bush administration was demanding that the agency be placed at the disposal of the Americans, as if it were a mercenary force. 'The I.S.I. is a national intelligence agency, whose potential and ouput should not be shared or rented out to other countries,' Mr. Gul said."

So, some bad blood there?

Afghan summer:

The furor over the cartoons has the potential to plunge Afghanistan into a vortex of violence that could make this summer especially bloody.

The Atimes:

"With the Taliban and al-Qaeda gearing for a summer offensive in Afghanistan, using Pakistan's tribal area of North Waziristan as a base, they want to increase their political mass support once they ramp up their activities on the guerrilla front. At the same time, they are looking for fresh blood from the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and Pakistani jihadi diehards to join their jihad. Incidents such as the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in an unsavory light play right into the hands of al-Qaeda and the Taliban in fanning the already simmering embers of discontent among the masses."

Sibghatullah Zaki, a representitive in the Afghan parliament, or Loya Jirga, from Takhar province and was also a top leader of the Jumbesh Milli Afghanistan led by General Abdul Rasheed Dostum, told the Atimes:

"It is a critical situation and is likely to have a special impact on Afghanistan. There are 1.4 billion Muslims in the world. The majority of them condemn terrorism. There are few who believe in terror tactics. However, publication of such caricatures shows that they consider all Muslims as terrorists. I tell you, this will have a direct impact on Afghanistan's socio-political situation. There are already riots from north to south. In my province, Takhar, people attacked the offices of the governor and the mayor and ransacked everything. There [were] a huge demonstration and riots in Laghman. This indicates the direction in which the common Afghan thinks."