Musings on the Human Condition

Well-known Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir expounds on the dire situation in Pakistan. As Mir explains (sorry this is in Urdu, not English), the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have completely and thoroughly occupied a large region of Pakistan that is on the border with Afghanistan. He claims that the armies of Pakistan and the US are fraudulently claiming to be fighting the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Pakistan. In fact, Mir asserts, the armies are active in the fringe areas and do not dare enter the actual strongholds. He challenges politicians to enter the Taliban and Al-Qaeda strongholds by road and travel even a portion of the 500 km stretch that constitutes the region of Pakistan that Mir claims has been irreversibly occupied by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

As I write, we're just beginning to understand the full impact of today's bombings, shootings and hostage-taking at seven of Mumbai's (formerly Bombay) most recognizable venues including the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, the Trident Oberoi hotel, the Chhatrapati Shivaji (formerly Victoria ) Terminus (Mumbai's largest ground transportation hub), Chabad House (formerly Nariman House and now a base for the orthodox Jewish group Chabad Lubavitch), and Leopold Cafe . Most reports coming out of India's financial capital, Mumbai, are citing over 100 fatalities and 300 injured, many of them foreign citizens. I am keeping my fingers double-crossed. I lost a family member in the Delhi bombings of October 29, 2005 - two days prior to Divali - while she was shopping with her fiance at South Delhi's popular Sarojini Nagar market. And now this - one day prior to Thanksgiving! To borrow Obama's terminology, all sides need to learn the use of a scalpel; the sledgeh...