Pakistani Crackdown
Big news this morning is that Benazir Bhutto has been placed under house arrest to block her from attending the planned rally today. While that may keep the protests less focused, it doesn't seem that it will be enough to keep the situation from deteriorating further.
Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) says thousands of its supporters have been detained in the past two days.
Despite the ban, PPP activists have been trying to reach the venue of the planned rally through alleyways, throwing stones and clashing with police.
The authorities banned the event, saying attackers were trying to target it.
. . .
Meanwhile in the city of Peshawar, police say a suicide bomber targeted the residence of the minister for political affairs, Amir Muquam.
They say two security personnel were killed, along with the attacker, but the minister is safe.
If things continue down this path, Musharraf will have little choice but to put the army in the streets to face the protesters, and the military is already suffering morale problems. Place them in a position of having to fight their own people, and its disintegration will accelerate.
Add in the fact that with the security services focused on the secular establishment that's leading these protests, the extremists in the border regions have a free hand to do as they please. Despite all this, Bush still thinks Musharraf is an "indispensable ally". You have to wonder for who.
