India-Pakistan: Nuclear Anxiety

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November 12, 2007: Pakistani Islamic militants are concerned over the military government's crackdown on democrats. This political quarrel has made the military more hostile to Islamic radicals, and has even caused crackdowns on groups that concentrate on terrorist operations in Indian Kashmir. As Winter sets in in Kashmir, Islamic terrorists are told to stay in Kashmir, and not try and sneak back to Pakistan, as is usually the case before Winter. The Islamic militants just across the border ("Line Of Control") from Kashmir fear attacks by the army on their bases.

The political unrest in Pakistan has not aroused enough people to bring the government down. The problem is that everyone knows what is happening here. The political parties want power back, and when they get it, there will be another round of really bad corruption and misrule. Not that the generals are much better, and that's the problem. Pakistani's haven't got much in the way of choices, which explains the widespread popularity of Islamic radicalism. That has peaked, however, after seeing what happened when Islamic radicals were in charge in Afghanistan and Iran. The political parties are not able to put on really large scale demonstrations because most Pakistanis don't see the point. The generals will go, as they always have, the politicians will return and make such a big mess that the generals will return once more. Meanwhile, India and the rest of the world will move ahead, while poor Pakistan remains mired in corruption and inept bureaucrats. Musharraf gets a lot of respect from most Pakistanis because, during his rule, the economy has improved. For most Pakistanis, that's the most important thing in their lives.

November 11, 2007:The United States is paying close attention to who is backing who in the Pakistani, and where the Pakistani nuclear weapons are. Neither situation is entirely clear. It's known that Musharraf has opposition inside the military, and must pay close attention to the opinions of a dozen or so senior officers. India and Western governments are most concerned about the security of Pakistan's nukes, because if Islamic radicals got hold of one, they have already said they would use it.

In Kashmir, two Islamic terrorists took refuge in a hotel and held off police for three days.

November 10, 2007:In Kashmir, five Islamic terrorists took refuge in a rural village, an after a four day siege, were killed, along with four soldiers.

November 9, 2007:Under pressure from the political parties, military dictator and elected president Musharraf of Pakistan promised new parliamentary elections by February 15th. In northwest Pakistan, a suicide bomber killed himself and four others after failing to get into the house of a government official.

November 6, 2007: In Pakistan, the military government arrested most of the senior opposition leaders and tried to shut down the media. This did not work, because the Internet still allowed news reports to get through. Internet access is widespread among the middle class. But that is a minority of the population. For most people, the only access to what is going on is via short-wave radio (which is more common in rural area) and broadcasts like the BBC Urdu language news.

 

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