And now, a quick summary of what's going on in Pakistan -- there was a second assassination attempt in as many weeks on President Musharraf, who is yielding more power anyway to radical Islamist parties, following on their recent electoral successes.

But there can't really be any cause for concern here. Remember, it's even OK for these guys to have weapons of mass destruction -- viz., nukes. They're our ally.

Since I keep on going on about this, I feel obliged to point out that the news from this corner is not entirely bad. In fact, Musharraf's recent conciliatory moves towards India on the fifty-year-old dispute over Kashmir are good news indeed, if the policy lasts, particularly considering Musharraf's own past belligerence on the issue. But it's likely -- in fact, more than lightly -- that this very policy is motivating the assassins...