Flyswatter? Flypaper? Oh, Who Knows?

As promised yesterday, pure bs looks at holiday violence.

New attack on Musharraf, airliner alerts, alleged Al Qaeda plotting continues, and sadly, much more.

First, 746 articles dealing with continued -- perhaps escalating -- violence in Iraq. Didn't Howard Dean, and the CIA say that this was likely? Don't make me pull up the links!! Okay, now for a more formal run-down. (I spent hours on this, I hope somebody reads it)

Agence-France Presse reports terrorism analysts fear that Al Qaeda militants and religious fanatics are behind an increasingly organized effort to kill Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. Mr. Musharraf escaped his second assassination attempt in 11 days Thursday.

We here at pure bs don't have a clue as to whether al Qaeda is behind the Musharraf assassination attempts. The removal of Musharraf would certainly be inline with what we have been told about al Qaeda's objectives. More..

Suicide bombers rammed his motorcade with two bomb-laden cars at a gas station about a mile and a half from his residence in Rawalpindi. Pakistani authorities say 14 people were killed and 46 injured in the blast. The Guardian reports that a special electronic jamming device delayed the blast by crucial seconds, and this allowed Musharraf to escape with his life.

Your humble blogger is also an MSEE, and while I won't speculate on whether or not a jammer was used by Pakistani intelligence -- the ISI -- or some other entity, it is certainly within the realm of possibility. After all, these folks have functioning nukes.

"The broad guess is that it could be a nexus between Al Qaeda and extremist militant groups here," analyst Talat Masood said. "They seem to be determined; look at their audacity, boldness and precision (in carrying out) the attacks. ... These groups might see the present policies of Musharraf as detrimental to their interests. They want to eliminate him, thinking that the next guy will be too scared to check their activities," he said.

We don't rely on "broad guesses" here at pure bs. Until a link can be found, the allegation is a spurious one. Pakistan is loaded with engineers. I'll see what Masood's credentials are. Googled him, career military, now a security expert. We need confirmation, not speculation. I am not an apologist for al Qaeda. I am a slave to the truth.

Paknews.com reports that Musharraf says he is "unafraid" of such attacks, and that he plans to carry out his mission to "eliminate terrorists and extremists from the country."

The Voice of America reports that Pakistan declared a national day of Thanksgiving Friday to celebrate Musharraf's survival. Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat told the Pakistani Senate that investigators have identified the remains of the two bombers in the attempt on Musharraf's life Thursday, and believe they know the groups responsible for both attacks.

But CNN(Certainly Not News™) reports that Mr. Hayat later amended his story to say that authorities have not yet determined the bombers' indentities. Also, a leading Pakistani general said there was no information leading "to any single individual, group or agency."

There is way too much noise, and too little frequency to make a call on this one. One possibility is that the authorities do know the identies of the bombers, and retracted the statement pending a deeper investigation. But, it would seem that they have blown their cover if this is the case.

The Times of India reports that Musharraf will shift his residence to Islamabad, a city considered to be much safer than Rawalpindi. But in a separate article, the
Timesnotes several media reports have speculated that the assassination bids could be "stage-managed," while some others have suspected that these could be the handiwork of people in his inner circle or religious extremists and their sympathizers in the army.

Lots of differing opinions on the Musharraf front. All of which could be in error, certainly most of them are. That's how the press works. Or rather, doesn't. This next bit of 'reporting' is exactly why you should be a critical thinker, and take the pure bs vow of skepticism(details to follow)

The Washington Times reports that if Musharraf was killed, it would "create a crisis in Pakistan; possibly of nuclear proportions."

There you have it. The Washington Times is world reknowned as having inside information on Pakistan's nuclear weapons launch systems and safeguards. Do we need another opinion? Nah!!

The Daily Telegraph of London notes that extremist elements in Pakistan have becoming increasingly furious at Musharraf for several reasons: his attempts at reconciliation with India (in talks led by former US president Bill Clinton); his willingness to cooperate with attempts to learn how nuclear technology from Pakistan has been making its way to Iran and North Korea; and for his support of the US's war on terrorism.

I agree with the premise, now let's get to the unvarnished kernel of truth...If indeed there is one.

The New York Post editorializes that perhaps these two near missed will force Pakistan to do what Egypt did after the assassination of Anwar Sadat; "finally clamp down effectively on radical Islamists in his country; both the Al Qaeda remnants in the border lands and their sympathizers in his own officer corps."

It's a crazy world when pure bs cites an editorial piece from The New York Post! Your added bonus is that I agree with the Post. If Musharaff still has popular support(and I do not how a New Hampshirite could determine such a thing), then yes, I think that this is 'doable.'

The Christian Science Monitor reports on how the unrest in Pakistan has aided Al Qaeda's partner in Afghanistan, the Taliban.

The BBC reports that the US ambassador to Afghanistan says Al Qaeda and remnants of the Taliban are using Pakistan as a sanctuary and trying to return Afghanistan.

Other than the obviously mis-leading name, The Christian Science Monitor is one of my favorite major papers in the U.S. Are they correct? They often are. Read both of the above articles. They are far more cogent than most of the rest of my Holiday Violence articles.

The Scotsman notes that the attack on Musharraf, the terrorist threats to airports in France and America, and numerous attacks in Baghdad show that terrorism "takes no breaks for Christmas."

From the above article:

Both in Iraq and in Pakistan, a firm line needs to be taken if terrorist extremism is not to be fed by a sense that the terrorists are dealing with ineffectual weaklings, reluctant or unable to respond effectively. In Iraq, the work of the coalition is of necessity complex and multi-tiered: on the one hand, to encourage participation in talks on the new constitution and in particular the involvement of the Sunnis; and at the same time to make every effort to curb and defeat the daily assault of suicide bombers.

Hey! I didn't need validation for my observations..or has The Scotsman been reading my blog? I am getting over 150 hits/day(the counter is less than 48 hours old. :P

Meanwhile, Turkish authorities say they have "broken up" the Istanbul cell behind recent suicide bomb attacks. They also confirmed the cell's connections to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

I hate to ask for evidence after finding that thriving cottage WMD industry in Iraq, but until the intel is parsed by neutral parties, I am on the fence.

The London-based Arab weekly al-Majalla said on Friday that bin Laden has vowed to launch a "back-breaking attack" on the United States by February, confirming an earlier message by the militant network. The magazine said it had received an e-mail from Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, a "little-known Al Qaeda member," saying bin Laden would release a video tape in which he affirms his group's determination to fight the United States.

"A messenger of bin Laden informed him (Ablaj) that the al Qaeda leader will appear on a televised tape after the execution of an operation which bin Laden described as back-breaking and which would change the order of things," al-Majalla said in a report in its latest edition, a copy of which was sent to Reuters. "They (Americans) should prepare...Their coffins, hospitals and graves. The coming days will be full of surprises and great events which will make them a historic example," the magazine quoted Ablaj as saying.

Would this be a full run-down without a nod to that shining example of expert investigative journalism, Fox News? No way! And from the RNC to your PC come the final word:

Faux Fox News (recites GOP talking points) and reports that the Bush administration says disaster teams are ready to respond to any strike by Al Qaeda, and special equipment is monitoring the air for biological agents in some 30 cities in the US.

Knowing that diaster teams are ready to respond makes me feel warm. Honestly, didn't the DHS funding not meet what first responder's were saying as vital to effectively respond to multiple strikes with multiple means of attack? I'm certain that this is the case.



And that is my all too lengthy synopsis of Holiday violence in the Middle-East.