 Pakistan is "sitting on a cluster of political, demographic and social time bombs," according to Owen Bennet-Jones, a BBC journalist who has served in the region and written a book on Pakistan.
The British broadcaster and author believes that beyond the growing appeal of radical Islam, the most glaring threats are posed by the booming population, and, secondly, the "atrocious" education system.
| A crummy exclusively religious-based education that involves lotsa time prosyletizing jihad would tend to contribute to the growing appeal of radical Islam, I'd guess... |
He points out that Pakistani liberals and Western observers who have warned "for years" that the madrassas are akin to "jihadist production lines" have been ignored. One million Pakistani children now attend these schools where the syllabus consists solely of the Quran, jihad and martyrdom, he adds.
| That's what I just said, only a little more polite... |
Bennet-Jones's observations form part of a review of Stephen Cohen's new book, The Idea of Pakistan, published in the Washington Post on Sunday. After pointing out that the Pakistan Air Force has been bombing "targets on its own soil" in South Waziristan for the last year, Bennet-Jones wonders "what kind of country needs to bomb its own turf".
| A country that doesn't control its own turf. A country where a considerable proportion of the inhabitants haven't quite managed to understand the word "country." |
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