Another day, another disquieting incident in Pakistan, home of possibly the world's most dangerous nuclear weapons program.
Militants attacked a bus of students from a women's university, and then
proceeded to attack the hospital where survivors were being treated. Although this attack garnered little attention outside of minor news blurbs, it included all the facets that Western nations are concerned about: homegrown terrorism, suicide bombers, a coordinated attack, and significant civilian casualties. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a group with links to al-Qaeda.
As with each attack, international concerns about the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal surface. Can Pakistan, a country with deep internal divisions, keep itself together? This attack, on the very fundamental elements of reform Pakistan has struggled with - women's rights - comes on the heels of and as a test to the
newly elected government of Nawaz Sharif.
Sharif, a political mainstay of Pakistani politics (this is his third term), has a
slew of election promises to uphold. While
improving the economy will be quite a challenge on the heels of an accelerating US withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan, ending
drone strikes in a country that reels from the
majority of American targets will be an even more daunting task. Pakistan has been the center of US operations and there is little evidence to suggest that even as the physical American presence on the ground decreases, the threat of the US military will as well.
Attacks like the one this past week are exactly why. A country with fundamentalist, militant opposition, an active military, and nuclear weapons, is a dangerous mix. And concerns nations far removed from the subcontinental neighborhood. It wouldn't be such bad idea if these stories made more than a dent in the international news blotter.
