Re: Breaking News: Paramilitary Police clash with Lal Mosque idiots!
I think the way Musharraf is handling this is really EXCELLENT. He has the entire nation's support on this, and since they're not being aggressive, no one can really complain that Musharraf is playing the West's chamcha. They are doing everything they can to keep the innocents in the masjid alive. Its been 2 friggin days. If this was any other government, they would have sent in a SWAT team equivalent in there and called any innocent deaths "accidents", and moved on with their lives.
You have to also think about people living in Islamabad. They've been under curfew and even now, the entire city is not being allowed to move around without authorization. That means if I didn't happen to do my groceries before all this started, and I've got 4 kids to feed and a husband, I'm probably running low on food now.
I really applaud the patience of the people living in Islamabad to make this saccrifice.
As to whether it would have been better to nip this in the bud earlier, I don't think so. The government had to wait for the entire nation to be on their side, and very few people are saying that the government is being atrocious in their approach. (I can't explain the Karachi lawyers, but they're stupid anyway). It took time for the religious community of Pakistan to look at these guys and condemn their activities.
Plus, waiting gave the gov't some more complaints to level against the Ghazi. I think the last straw was when they abducted Chinese nationals. That scared the crap out of everyone. Its one thing to get in a muslim's face and bully them about not following Islam. Its another to confront women who are not muslim and start executing them as if you're their government. I still have yet to see any proof that the Chinese girls were doing anything wrong.