Naeem's Blog

I'm sure most of you have read about the latest bombing tragedy in Islamabad where 16 people were killed in a rally for deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. This is the latest in a string of violence since the Lal Masjid siege ended on July 11. Here is a quick recap of the maddening violence of this past week:

July 11 - Siege cleanup ending at Lal Masjid.

July 12 - Two suicide bombers hit government targets. Three soldiers were killed when a driver detonated his car outside the town of Mingora in the Swat Valley in North West Frontier Province. In North Waziristan a suicide bomber walked into a government compound and blew himself up, killing three officials.

July 12 – In a televised address to the nation, Musharraf explains his actions on the Lal Masjid siege ("They prepared the madrassa as a fortress for war and housed other terrorists in there…I will not allow any madrassa to be used for extremism") and vows to eliminate extremism and terrorism from "every corner of the country."

July 14 - At least 26 soldiers were killed and 54 wounded in a suicide car bombing north of Miran Shah, North Waziristan's main town.

July 15 – Two suicide bombers and a roadside bomb struck a military convoy in Swat, a mountainous area northeast of Peshawar, killing 16 soldiers and 5 civilians.

July 15 - In the day's second attack, a suicide bomber targeted scores of people at a police recruiting center in the city of Dera Ismail Khan. The blast killed 12 policemen and 16 candidates and wounded dozens more.

July 15 - Interesting note in this article: "There is concern in Pakistan that the gathering sense of crisis could prompt Musharraf to cancel elections later this year and declare a state of emergency — despite his repeated denials."

July 17 – Three police, one bystander killed in suicide bombing at the Khajuri checkpoint site at the entry-point to North Waziristan.

July 17 – Suicide bomber kills 16 in Islamabad at a PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party) rally for Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

July 18 - Suspected militants attacked security forces in northwest Pakistan Wednesday, killing 16 soldiers and wounding up to 21 others in two separate strikes against military convoys.

July 18 – Pakistan government considers imposing state of emergency after latest bombing in Islamabad. "Analysts say declaring an emergency would delay elections expected later this year, boosting Musharraf's aims to defy the constitution and remain in power as both president and army chief."

There are two points worth mentioning here. First, the latest bombing of the Islamabad rally for Chief Justice Chaudhry is being framed as a logical extension of the violence in the northern regions carried out by militant Islamists (most likely as blowback from the Lal Masjid fiasco). That is a reflexive yet naïve analysis of the situation.

Anyone familiar with despotic rule knows the simple tenet of divide and conquer taught to all tin pot dictators in Machiavellian Rule 101. The Islamists had nothing to gain by bombing a Musharraf opposition rally. Nothing whatsoever. Rather only Musharraf would gain by such an action which would inevitably result in tensions between the Islamists and the Chief Justice-supporters.

Secondly, the 'state of emergency' flag has begun to be waved by the government. Don't get fooled by the phrase 'state of emergency'. Its straight up martial law!

"Martial law can also be declared in cases of major natural disasters, however most countries use a different legal construct like "state of emergency"." (Wikipedia)

So the Islamabad bombing is in reality Musharraf's dream come true where his two main domestic threats are set to declare war on each other while simultaneously allowing him to declare war on the nation with the imposition of martial law.

Isn't that convenient?