The truck-bomb attack that destroyed the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad and killed 53 people, said Beena Sarwar in India’s The Hindu, could be “Pakistan’s 9/11.” Although other attacks, notably the 2007 attempt to assassinate Benazir Bhutto, killed more people, this one hit near the country's power centers and “had greater symbolic significance.”
There were some initial attempts to blame the bombing on foreigners, said Pakistan’s Daily Times in an editorial, but we have to admit that “this is Pakistan’s war that Pakistan’s army is fighting.” And the enemy is al Qaida, which has targeted Islamabad this year with near-monthly attacks.
It may be “macabre” to look for the silver lining in Pakistan’s dark clouds, said Max Boot in Commentary, but it’s “mildly encouraging” that Islamic militants “feel compelled” to strike in the heart of Pakistan’s capital. The country’s new president, Asif Ali Zardari, has attacked militant strongholds, and this means al Qaida and its Taliban allies are feeling the heat.
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