Next?

Today, December 28th, 2007...

• A symbolic former Prime Minister's voice, who spoke loudly against the existing militaristic, totalitarian regime, is buried after completely predictable, prescient and successful assassination.



• The country is populated with 161 million people (98% Muslim, comprising 11% of the 1.3 billion world Islamic population). It was estimated in February of 2007 that 79% are supportive of sharia law and 67% want to "keep Western values out".



• Our current administration either did not recognize, or otherwise ignored, the imperative to keep Benazir Bhutto alive, if for no other basic reason than to avoid the likely civil war (and higher level of chaos than is normal there) that this murder may well now propel.



• Meanwhile, in the aftermath of political traction control as they motor over the fallout, we have beaming intellectual offerings such as this tidbit:
  
  

  Obama, campaigning in Williamsburg, Iowa, said Washington should cut military aid to Pakistan, until Musharraf embraced democracy, and said the US invasion of Iraq was a distraction from the "war on terror."


[Yeah, another quaking Democratic wisdom... Translation: Given that Musharraf is already between our influence to combat Al Qaeda (GOOD) and Al Qaeda's pressure to yield to them (ummmmmm...BAD!), let's take away our support and incentives and leave him with but one place to turn... that'll show him!]


• The Heffalump "demands" the timelessly classic liberal afterthought:
  
  

  "I'm calling for a full, independent, international investigation," Clinton said in an interview with CNN.
  
  "I think it's critically important that we get answers and really those are due first and foremost to the people of Pakistan"



• Something slightly more realistically important might be this:
  
  

  The U.S. has few options in Pakistan. One thing is clear, says Peter Galbraith, senior fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation: It is "not a good idea to have 70 nuclear weapons in the hands of a country that is falling apart."

What if we quietly squeezed Musharraf behind the scenes until he gave us the wink on using his air space to allow bombing the crap out of the 40+ known, located and identified terrorist training camps in the remote northwestern Khyber regions of Pakistan and Waziristan?

What if we covertly, effectively guarded the life of the next Bhutto who might offer a long term solution to Musharraf?

What if we kept Musharraf well preserved, too, at least until such time that we have a better confirmed alternative? When the bar you are in is full of bad guys and you get in a fight, anybody that will stand and fight at your back with you should be immune from complaints about bad breath or needs for plastic surgery, at least for the duration of the fight!

How about some extra effort on our part to keep Nawaz Sharif alive? Even if it means removing him from Pakistan?

Outrageous, crazy thoughts? Maybe, but perhaps we should consider the importance of not screwing up a couple more of these 'situations'.

If it is not already an ignited powder keg, with NUKES onboard that can disappear fast and frisky into Al Qaeda hands during more turmoil... shall we just sit around and casually wait to see what happens next?

This situation is much bigger than the "sadness" and "tragedy" surrounding the loss of Benazir Bhutto's life. Ignoring that fact will only unlock more doors, doors that might well be un-closeable, to a much bigger cauldron.

"...what bothers me is not the technical security of the nuclear weapons at the moment; it's the possibility of losing command and control over them or having control over them fall into the hands of militant Islamists within the Pakistani military. That's a very grave danger at the moment, I believe."

-John Bolton on H&C December 27th, 2007