Pakistan Power Play

Pervez Musharraf has declared martial law and enacted emergency law. It's a coup. He says that the country is at a dangerous juncture.

It's dangerous because Musharraf has refused to deal with the Islamists in an absolute fashion. He's flip flopped between appeasement and crackdowns, depending on how much is required to remain in power. He's moved against the courts and the military has taken over the telecommunications in the country.

All the while, the Islamists continue to use Pakistani territory to mount attacks into Afghanistan and to use Warizistan and the NWFP to plot attacks against the government in Islamabad.

It's an extremely dangerous situation, especially given that Pakistan has a nuclear arsenal and the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, is known to be thoroughly penetrated by Islamists who have sympathies towards the Islamists, the Taliban, and al Qaeda.

All the rest of the world can do right now is look on and wonder whether the other shoe is going to drop. The US can say that it's deeply disturbed, but this has been the way things have been with Pakistan for years. We've looked the other way over Musharraf's rise to power via a coup, and have used his regime to go after al Qaeda and the Taliban, even though there are parts of the Pakistani government that harbor sympathies for the same.

Another issue deserving attention is what is going on with Benazir Bhutto. She had left to visit family in Dubai and is expected back in Pakistan. Will she be arrested or deported, or does some other fate await.

Bill Roggio and Hot Air have a huge roundup of news and notes from the developing situation.