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Another Bombing, This Time Pakistan

Can I guess who is behind this? It’s easy to stereotype these bombings since there are so many now. Why are they all Muslim extremists? Is there a pattern here? Why do all the terrorists seem to be linked to Islam? Because they hate freedom. If freedom survives, they will not.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —  A huge truck bomb devastated the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan’s capital Saturday, creating a chaotic, fiery scene as rescue crews searched for survivors. At least 60 people reportedly have been killed, including one American.
The five-floor Marriott in Islamabad is a favorite place for foreigners as well as Pakistani politicians and business people to stay and socialize, despite repeated militant attacks. It served as the de facto back office for the international media during the 2001 war against the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.
More than a hundred were injured, and two hospitals told the Associated Press that 10 foreigners were among those in their treatment, including one each from Germany, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Afghanistan.
A hospital official told FOX News that one unidentified American was among the dead, and Al Jazeera reported that five Americans were wounded in the blast.

Senior Police Official said the blast was caused by more than 2,204 pounds of explosives.

The attack came hours after new President Asif Ali Zardari addressed Parliament for the first time and underscored the fragility of his administration as the country finds its footing after a decade of military rule.

Leaders of Pakistan’s civilian government stated their determination to combat terrorism, though the country’s seven-year alliance with the United States has come under strain over U.S. threats to attack militants in the lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

“This is terrorism and we have to fight it together as a nation,” Rehman Malik, the head of Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, told reporters at a hospital overflowing with the injured.

Malik told the AP that it was unclear who was behind the attack, but that authorities had received intelligence that there might be militant activity due to Zardari’s inaugural address to Parliament earlier Saturday. Security had been tightened, he said.

In his speech, Zardari vowed not to let terrorists use Pakistani territory. However, he also warned that the government would not allow “any power” to violate Pakistan’s sovereignty — a reference to U.S. strikes across the border from Afghanistan that Pakistani officials warn will fan Islamic extremism.

Pakistan has faced a wave of militant violence in recent months following army-led offensives against insurgents in its border regions, including several in the capital.

In July, a suicide bombing killed at least 18 people, most of them security forces, and wounded dozens in Islamabad as supporters of the Red Mosque gathered nearby to mark the anniversary of the military siege on the militant stronghold.

In June, a suicide car bomber killed at least six people near the Danish Embassy in Islamabad. A statement attributed to Al Qaeda took responsibility for that blast, believed to have targeted Denmark over the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

In mid-March, a bomb explosion at an Italian restaurant killed a Turkish woman in the capital, and wounded 12 others, including four FBI officials.

IntelCenter, a group which monitors Al Qaeda communications, said senior Al Qaeda leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, who claimed the Danish Embassy bombing, threatened additional attacks against Western interests in Pakistan in a video timed to the recent anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

FOX News’s Scott Heidler and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

One Response

  1. It is less hating freedom and more hating Kuffar. If it ain’t Islamic, it is evil and must be punished; in the words of Allah, “defeated and gathered together into Hell”

    “Casting terror” is an established Islamic tactic because, in Moe’s experience, it worked. Terrified victims tend to run, scattering in several directions, fleeing instead of fighting. They are easy to pick off one by one. You can’t mount an effective defense when terrified.

    Islam makes war because it can’t tolerate competition and it is not economically productive. Moe made his living by raiding camel caravans and Jewish settlements; pillage & plunder. When Christian cities were conquered, annual payments of Jizya added to the Caliph’s treasury.

    Mass casualty bombings are intended to spread paranoia, confusion and unrest; to destabilize targeted societies and render them impotent.

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