Swine flu: I have just read an article in Dawn.com by Pakistani woman in the US - while Pakistan is fighting for it's very survival, with suicide bombs going off every day, and the complete fracturing if the country now almost inevitable, Americans are panicking about swine flu. Unless you are in Miami, where nude bathing with watching towers telescopes, and plenty of ill-gotten-gain wealth is on parade. That was what her article was about...
I am so impressed with Dawn.com, the online site of one of Pakistan's most intelligent newspapers. Not only is the site the best newspaper site I have yet seen, but the articles and news continue to fascinate me. They are really good stuff - the kind of hard, self-reflective material I would love to see even here in Australia - and we have some very good newspapers compared to the the rest of the world.
Pakistan is in a state of disintegration. But Dawn.com is insightful, as it displays to me what the world will soon be facing. A relatively small group of intelligent people will be arguing for sanity and a complete review of everything, while the remainder are maniacally heading for the cliff, while violently heckling for some utter rubbish or other.
This site is giving me the creeps - I am seeing the future of the world right there in Dawn.com, in Pakistan. Some writers are cutting to the very core of the problem, insightful to the point of pain. While referring to the madness that rages in the popular press and TV which thankfully I am spared.
Meanwhile Julie has just watched 'Into the Wild', and to her horror, went online to read the comments from Americans mostly, about this film. She couldn't believe the ignorance, stupidity and grossness of many of the commentators. Seems an echo of what I have been experiencing while observing Pakistan.
Anyway, to the point. An update of the situation in Pak.
The military offensive in Swat and South Waziristan has had consequences. Islamists extremists had originally come down from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan into Afghanistan. US invaded Afghanistan and these fighters fled to Pakistan, along with the Taliban. Now they are being attacked in Pakistan, they have nowhere to go, because they can't return to their own homeland, although they are trying to.
The Uzbeks are a nasty bunch, and the largest group of foreign fighters in Pakistan. They along with Al Qaeda and a few others are being cornered, but also spreading out - closely watched by the US.
This offensive in Pakistan is causing repercussions in all neighbouring countries as these fighters begin to infiltrate wherever they can find a loop hole.
Meanwhile in Pakistan, it is becoming obvious that the government is broke and corrupt. The Islamists have strong political influence. Okay - most Pakistanis don't want them. They want a secular government, but a minority of very active extremists can cause huge changes, especially when they use violence to get their ways.
I can't see how they will escape another Military coup, but as the Military is itself split in its allegiance to Islamists and secular ideology, don't expect much to come from them.
The US is offering them money, which they desperately need - they can't even support the refugees from Swat and South Waziristan, let alone build the infrastructure necessary for the country's future. No other friends of Pakistan will give them money as they can't guarantee it won't end up in the wrong hands. Saudi Arabia won't give them any funds either. But they don't want to take US money because it will hurt their ego too much.
Meanwhile the US is secretly giving the Military funding to help in its war with the Taliban.
I see it as a forerunner of the future all countries face, as we grapple with a global environment disaster.