Meanwhile, back in Pakistan

Zardari vows to suck the oxygen from the Taliban system. I'll believe THAT when I see it.

From Long War Journal: Hizb ut-Tahrir Pakistan advocated for the government to cut diplomatic and military ties with the West and deploy its nuclear weapons if the US continues to violate Pakistan’s territorial integrity. In an earlier release, Hizb ut-Tahrir urged Pakistan to attack US bases in Bagram and Doha with nuclear weapons and suggested all of Pakistan's 160 million citizens conduct martyrdom operations.

And another one of those martyrdom operations (this one actually targeting a Pakistani politician) took place last night. I'm sure glad that Happy Ramadan is over, how about you? Strapping on explosives and turning yourself into a bomb for the holidays or drinking egg nog and singing carols in front of the fire? Tell me again, which religion is the Religion of Peace?

Marriott officials deny plan to host Pakistani leaders on night of bombing. I thought it odd at the time that it seemed like every, Mohammed, Achmed and Abdul in Pakistani government was claiming to be the target of the blast. Why would you politicize a tragedy of this magnitude? It's outrageous to me that these guys would seek to gain political advantage in this way. Who do they think they are? The US Congress? From Rehman Malik, Pak Interior Minister and target wannabe in the worst old way:

"At the 11th hour, the president and prime minister decided that the venue would be the prime minister's house. It saved the entire leadership." But a spokesman for the hotel denied any knowledge of the dinner arrangements. "We didn't have any reservation of such a dinner that the government official is talking about," Jamil Khawar, a spokesman for the hotel, told the Associated Press. The owner of the hotel, Saddrudin Hashwani, also told BBC News that no arrangements for the dinner, or any other government function, had been made for the night of the attack."

The Implementation of Sharia in the NWFP is experiencing problems and is expected to cause even more unrest in the region. Gee, what a surprise. The NWFP govt instituted it to shut up radical Islamist and all around scumbag, Maulana Fazlullah, but it's not working out that way. Let's hope their plan to drain their cash-strapped treasury by purchasing luxury cars for their Islamist govt bigwigs goes better.

Senior lawyer Barrister Bacha called the NWFP government’s Shariah draft a cosmetic one, saying the government had been trying to end the ongoing unrest in the region through this law, but it would create judicial complications. “The people of Malakand and other districts of the province will challenge the Qazi Courts’ decisions in provincial high court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” he said.

Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) Secretary General Muhammad Essa Khan said that the Awami National Party (ANP)-led provincial government did nothing but brought a few changes in the Shari Nizam-e-Adl Act 1999. He said that Qazi Courts were set up by the federal government in the Malakand Division in 1999, but they could not bring any change, and the unrest swelled there.

The UK and the UN have announced that all children of their diplomatic corps and staff would be evacuated in light of the deteriorating security conditions. The West Indies Women's Cricket team has cancelled the Pakistani portion of their schedule for the same reason. Pervez Musharraf, on the other hand, says he's not leaving Pakistan and is planning on hitting the lecture circuit soon.