In the backdrop of Pakistan’s new crisis, Pakistaniat plots the Chronology of a political meltdown. A unique peek into the recent history of Pakistani politics, with a compilation of Pakistaniat’s posts in the past one year which explains why Pakistan is where it is.

“… the emergency declared by Gen. Musharraf is deeply disturbing, but not really surprising. The horrendous political situation that Gen. Musharraf described in his ‘Emergency’ speech is, in fact, true.”

Gen. Musharraf is now operating on a ‘Karr lo jo karna hai‘ philosophy… “do whatever you will, I am here to stay and will do whatever it takes.” Right now he seems to believe that an Emergency is what “it will take.”

And on the nukes. George explains why spotting them could be difficult,

On the other hand, Pakistan’s gathering storm may also represent the first stages of a desperate struggle to control of the country, against the backdrop of a potential Islamist coup, a split within the Army, and which factions would wind up the nuclear stockpile and delivery systems.

Determining which facilities are reserved for that function has become more difficult, thanks to Pakistan’s growing proficiency in denial and deception (D&D) and operational security. The location of some Pakistani missile facilities was apparently influenced by terrain, with engineers selecting sites where key facilities (including storage tunnels) can be obscured or blend in with rugged topography, making overhead detection more complex.