The horrible news of Benazir Bhutto's assassination today had me thinking of one thing...

Daniel Pearl's murder. And, more specifically, the book Bernard Henri-Levy wrote investigating his murder. In it, he explores the fact that Pearl was killed for finding that Omar Sheikh, the man he was investigating, had connections with both the ISI (Pakistan's Secret Service) and al-Qaeda. Sheikh masterminded Pearl's killing and eventually admitted his guilt in court, but his connections to both organizations were never fully explored.

Levy's book can be tough to read at times, but what struck me about the things he related about the many factions present in Pakistani society is that, in invading Afghanistan and partnering with Pakistan, the U.S. was delaying dealing with a hornet's nest. Levy saw, back in 2002-3, that America's military might was not going to be directed against the Afghani neighbor that was most likely harboring former Taliban leaders - it would be turned towards countries a little further west. Like, say, Iran or Iraq.

For more on why Iran or Iraq, head to Maitri's.

We are absolutely not justified in saying we didn't see this coming. Most folks around the blogosphere are seeing a potential powder keg of Asia exploding here. For all our sakes, I hope not.