 ISLAMABAD — A senior Pakistan army officer, quoted in the US media, has described the present situation in the Frontier Province as a ‘disaster’. “This is a disaster. We all recognise the gravity of the situation. It's a nightmare to have an army being attacked on its own soil and by its own people."
| And just who might those people be? Lutherans? Pentecostalists? Esquimaux? |
After the two incidents, he added, "the doors to peaceful negotiated settlements are closed. I am afraid we are on a war course in the tribal areas."
| That would require the army and ISI to turn on its own, so I don't think that's going to happen. |
Analysts say the episode has caught the government on the wrong foot and wonder why it immediately assumed responsibility for the attack on Bajaur religious school. The domestic and foreign media have reported that public condemnation of the Bajaur missile attack has been almost universal in Pakistan. |