Another assassination attempt on Musharraf

A Taliban-style anti-aircraft gun was used in an assassination attempt on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's airplane today. Attacks on Musharraf are nothing new, but this one comes at a sensitive time with "a radical cleric holed up with hundreds of followers at the Red Mosque in Islamabad." The cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, said "We can be martyred but we will not surrender." Pakistani officials are downplaying the incident.

But intelligence officials dealing directly with the incident insisted Musharraf's plane was the target.

Security forces arrested a suspect and recovered the weapon and a crudely-made wooden tripod from the flat roof of a house in Rawalpindi, a security official said.

'The shots were fired from a house that was rented by a couple some days ago. They have arrested one suspect and taken into possession a machinegun which was used as an anti-aircraft weapon,' one security official said.

The 14.5 mm caliber weapon was found on the tripod on the roof. It had been specially modified to increase its range, the official added. (Forbes)

Musharraf may be a long way from perfect, but I worry what will happen in Pakistan if one of these assassination attempts are successful. Who would be his successor? The Taliban and sharia law lovers would jump at the chance to fill Musharraf's position.

UPDATE: Stormwarning shares my concerns, but a commenter at his place has this to say:

To assume that after the fall of Musharraf, Taliban will take over Pakistan is outrageous. No such thing will happen. Pakistan is not as unstable as you make it out to be. Yes, there are Taliban and Al-Qaeda present in the country but they are no where even close to being in power nor are they popular amongst the general population. Pakistan is not nearing its decline nor are its nuclear weapons going to be taken over by a radical regime.

I hope he's right. See Open Mouth ; Insert Foot coverage on "Red Mosque declares Jihad"

Others news from the blogroll:
Islam to West: It\'s not you it\'s me, Planck's Constant
Appeals Court Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Warrantless Wiretaps, Webloggin
All I hear ... is BURN, The Outraged Spleen of Zion
America’s Jihad Sympathizers, Faultline USA
Help Get the Islamazis Offline, Atlas Shrugs
A Hasty Air Assault to Nab High Value Targets, BlackFive (video)
Call Islamic Jihad ‘Islamic Jihad’, Blue Star Chronicles
BBC documentary: "My Brother The Bomber", Brain Shavings
Domenici, Lugar, Doolittle, et al May Want to Read This Before They Throw in The Towel, Chickenhawk Express
Time to Stick a Fork in McCain's Campaign?, Cold Hearted Truth

Comments

[pafundi.com]

Musharraf is a Military Dictator. He was not elected by the people to take over he took over in a coup, yet the United States treats him like he is a leader of a Democracy, and a great friend of this nation, which he isn't.
It just goes to show how corrupt the Bush administration is when it comes to dealing with other nations.
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Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties
as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 3975
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[Stormwarning]

Debbie:

I will address Ubercorn's comment later tonight, but the concern about the fall of Musharraf is not mine alone. Plenty of my associates who are alot more well known in counterterrorism share that feeling.

As for the nukes falling into the wrong hands...I think taking a position that they will not fall into the wrong hands leads us to the very end result that we all fear.