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| Terror Networks |
| Another church attack in Pakistan |
| 2002-03-17 |
It won't be the last attack. The religious parties behind this sort of violence will push for more of them if they see them weakening Musharraf. Or maybe just because they like seeing infidels resolved into their component parts. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad identified the dead Americans as Barbara Green and her daughter Kristen Wormsley, a senior at the American School in Islamabad. Green and her husband, Milton Green, worked at the embassy - she in administration and he in the computer division. The others killed included one Afghan, one Pakistani and one of unknown nationality. Ten Americans were among the 45 injured, along with 12 Pakistanis, five Iranians, one Iraqi, one Ethiopian and one German, police said. The government said the injured also included Afghans, Swiss, Britons, Australians and Canadians. Most, if not all, will represent a typical terrorist target, i.e., civilians with a high proportion of women and kiddies. Witnesses said the attackers entered the back of the church during the sermon and began hurling grenades at the congregation of about 70. Three of the grenades exploded and the attackers eluded security guards at the scene. Wonder how hard the security guards were chasing them? Wonder what their bank accounts look like? Probably be a good thing to check, just to make sure. Although no group claimed responsibility, suspicion fell on Islamic militants angered by Musharraf's crackdown on Islamic extremism begun in January. "It's a highly deplorable attempt to spoil our relations with foreign countries. Choosing this place is meant to embarrass the government," Pakistani Law Minister Khalid Ranjha said. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi specializes in such things. That'd be a good place to start. The coppers have also been hitting hard at Jhangvi in the past few days, and they'll want to show they're still around, heroic and xenophobic as ever. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called the attack a "serious outrage, particularly because it took place within what we thought was the well-protected diplomatic enclave." Takes a real horror to get Jack's back up. He'll probably be indignant for two, three days. Since it was in a diplomatic enclave, check those guards' bank accounts a third time. Despite the increase in sectarian violence, Pakistani Law Minister Khalid Ranjha said officials believed the church was well-protected. Such attacks in the Pakistani capital, where security is higher than elsewhere in the country, are relatively infrequent. "The attack shows that those who carried it out were committed people," Ranjha said. Well, of course they're "committed." This is what they do for a living. When they're not blowing away church-goers they're In January, Musharraf banned five Islamic extremist groups and announced measures extending control over religious schools considered a breeding ground for terrorism. More than 2,000 people were arrested, but many were released. Almost half of them have been released as of yesterday. Betcha half my grocery money at least one and probably more of those released were involved in the planning and/or execution of this atrocity. I wonder if the Brownshirts will try for a Krystallnacht before they seize power? Interesting question is the relative loyalty of the Pakistani Army to the Musharraf government, compared to the inertia of the Wehrmacht in the Weimar Republic in controlling political violence. The whole scenario gives new meaning to the concept of Islamofascism. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |