March 31, 2012:  The pro-terrorist Pakistani politicians and generals are increasingly on the defensive. For example, a recent attempt to persuade parliament to adopt more anti-American policies fell apart as a larger number of members insisted on dealing with political and economic problems inside Pakistan. The military has been using Islamic radicals for over 20 years to maintain a state of  fear within Pakistan and hostility with India, all to justify the control the military has over the government and economy. The current tensions with the United States are perpetuated by the military and their terrorist allies, despite growing resistance to terrorism, and military power inside Pakistan. The generals are losing this battle, as can be seen in how they recently backed off from taking over the government. There was too great a risk of civil war. Now the politicians and supreme court judges are trying to strip the military of the many extralegal powers the generals have created for themselves over the decades, and hold the military responsible for many of its past crimes. The generals respond by trying to portray themselves as victims, battered and bloodied by American and Indian plots and conspiracies. But fewer and fewer Pakistanis are buying this and the generals are getting desperate. So are the Pakistani people, who suffer growing poverty and misrule because of the greed of the generals. The military is responding by using media it controls to up the number of anti-American and anti-Indian stories put out (with increasingly bizarre accusations) and has organized a new Islamic radical organization (Difa-e-Pakistan) for supplying muscle during elections to get pro-military politicians elected (despite what the voters want).  

One of the biggest single complaints in Pakistan right now is about the growing power shortages. An American foreign aid agency (USAID) agreed to help out but insisted that first an audit be conducted of the three power plants needing help. The audit revealed that the reason the three plants were operating at only 60 percent capacity was corruption. Much of the money for maintenance had been stolen and sub-standard fuel had been bought (at prices meant for top quality fuel). The bad fuel damaged the power plants. USAID can fix the power plants but fixing the corruption is something only Pakistanis can do.

Another big problem in Pakistan is the continued chaos in Karachi, the largest city in the country. Political, religious, and ethnic groups are armed and increasingly violent. More police has reduced the violence but not eliminated it.

The terrorist violence in Pakistan is killing about a hundred people a week, this is 5-10 times the number of deaths that India suffers. That, plus the fact that India has six times as many people, indicates how much more violent Pakistan is.

While the Pakistani Taliban have a sanctuary on the Afghan border (North Waziristan), the Taliban have been fighting the army for months to the north in the Khyber and Orakzai. It's this Taliban aggression that makes so many Pakistanis hostile to their own military, which created and supports the Taliban even as this Islamic group seems dedicated to destruction and violence. The extent of this fighting can be seen in the number of refugees this violence has created so far this year (over 100,000). The refugees are mainly fleeing the superior firepower of the army (artillery) and navy (bombs), which is used liberally when it is believed Taliban gunmen are in a village or compound. The military commanders often guess wrong, so the civilians are fleeing.

Pakistan keeps the Baluchi rebellion under control because the Baluchi, unlike the Pushtun tribes to the north, have been unable to unite. But the reality is that the Pushtun Taliban alliance is falling apart under the pressure of Pakistani army pressure and American UAV missile attacks on Taliban leaders. Another big difference is that the Baluchi tribes want money, as well as less government interference in tribal affairs. The Taliban wants control of the entire country.

March 30, 2012: In Pakistan's tribal territories (North Waziristan) an American UAV missile attack killed at least four people (most likely Taliban leaders). That makes 11 such attacks for the first three months of the year. In 2011, there were 21 attacks in those three months and 28 in 2010. This decline is largely because there are fewer targets. The terrorists have also adapted, using better concealment and simply not moving as much. The damage has been done, with hundreds of terrorist leaders killed and their organizations now torn apart by squabbles over who should be in charge.

March 28, 2012: In Indian Kashmir police cornered and killed five Islamic terrorists during a gun battle. The five were identified as Pakistanis. This was the first major terrorist incident this year in Kashmir.

March 27, 2012: In western India (Maharashtra State) a Maoist bomb destroyed a bus and killed 13 paramilitary soldiers.

March 25, 2012: In eastern India (Orissa State) the Maoists freed one of the two Italian tourists they kidnapped, in an effort to get negotiations going with the government.

March 24, 2012: In Pakistan's tribal territories (Orakzai) over 30 Taliban attacked an army checkpoint. Three soldiers and ten Taliban died as the attack was defeated. To the south, in South Waziristan, seven soldiers and 22 Taliban died in several clashes.

In eastern India (Orissa State) the Maoists have kidnapped a politician and two Italian tourists and refuse to free them unless all Maoist prisoners are released and tourists are banned from tribal areas. The government refuses to consider these requests.

March 23, 2012: In Pakistan's tribal territories (Khyber) a Taliban suicide bomber attacked the headquarters of a rival terrorist group (Lashkar-i-Taiba) and killed five people. This is the second such attack this month and an escalation of a feud between the two groups over control of smuggling routes and other criminal activities. This is how the terrorists cover their expenses, and these battles for territories (like roads leading to Afghanistan) are increasingly brutal.

In Baluchistan (southwest Pakistan) tribal rebels attacked an army checkpoint, killing four soldiers and kidnapping four others.

March 22, 2012: In Indian Kashmir a bomb exploded in a car, killing the driver and wounding over twenty nearby people. It's unclear if the car was rigged with a bomb or if the bomb was being transported and went off.