Pompous asses

The blast at the Marriott Hotel, Islamabad last Saturday that killed over 70 people, injured and maimed many more, and destroyed the hotel, traumatised the entire nation. Farooq Naek, the erstwhile law minister, was quick to call it "9/11".

Not far from the Marriott, top officials of the government and the army chief were sharing an Iftar dinner hosted by the National Assembly Speaker, Dr Fehmida Mirza, for the president and the prime minister to celebrate the president's address before the Parliament the same morning. The blast was heard here that threw everybody to the ground seeking cover, the interior adviser shouting, "Remove the president...remove the president."

Earlier in the evening, unknown to the fawning guests in this dinner party, a dumper truck packed with tons of explosives and one or more suicide bombers, was moving about, apparently freely, on the streets of Islamabad. The truck had managed to enter the so-called Red Zone that has a concentration of major government buildings including the Houses of Parliament, the President's House, the PM's House and cabinet ministers' residences, the Diplomatic Enclave; the Government of Pakistan Secretariat, PTV and two five star hotels.

The truck finally crashed into the entrance barrier of the Marriott Hotel, caught fire and exploded with a deafening blast, causing deaths and devastation indicated above. The attackers had demonstrated the incompetence of all the security agencies and their own dare.