Journalists covering the unfortunate loss of lives in yesterdays bomb blast in Mardan cantonment would count the casualties (31 as this goes to press) as those of soldiers; no civilian included. Not many would count as civilian the 12-year-old uniform-wearing school boy who set himself off as the Punjab Regiment Centre. What could have motivated one at such innocent an age to do what he did? Those apologizing for these acts from afar, in a plush TV studio or at the keyboard in a comfortably warm study, would attribute the space for such indoctrination to be created exclusively by poverty. That is far from true. Though the dismal financial situation of many in the region would certainly help the extremists in their recruitment drive, this particular youngster just as well might have been from the lower middle-class. Or maybe even from Mardans rural peripheries, where affluence is rising as a result of the increasing prices of agricultural goods. The fact of the matter is that the factories of death where these youngsters are indoctrinated, go about this business with impunity across the region. And this is not talking about KP and Fata but also Punjab, particularly the south.
In the great smoke-and-mirror game that is being played along with the war on terror, incidents like yesterdays show that the military is also targeted by the terrorists and with great vengeance. This will come up, as the attacks on the ISI offices in Peshawar, Lahore and Multan do, when American officials doubt the militarys commitment to the war against the terrorists. It also throws the do-more mantra out of balance.
Meanwhile, somewhere at this very moment, the factories of death are preparing yet another batch of youngsters ready to die for a cause they dont quite understand. The monsters of frankenstein are loyal to no one. It remains to be seen whether the old-timers at the American defence establishment are sorry for what they did in the 80s. Or even the current powers that be right here in Pakistan. They are become death.
