A hit job on the Pakistani religious affairs minister

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 10:21am

Some guys on motorcycles tried to whack the Pakistani minister of religious affairs today. He was wounded in the leg and a bodyguard was injured, and the driver was killed.

What gets me is that they were in a Toyota Corolla. Do you think with all the billions of dollars we've shipped to Pakistan over the last eight years, a bit might be used to buy him a more protected car, one with bulletproof glass and internal armor? I mean, I used to ride in one of those when moving around Baghdad. (Thanks, Rajiv!) The thick, plasticated windows always amazed me -- it was like riding inside a fishbowl. The mileage was like a M1 Abrams tank, of course.

Apparently Minister Kazmi, who comes out of the sufi tradition, recently denounced the Taliban. Can you imagine how long the list of suspects is on this incident? Why not just put up a fence around Waziristan?

AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images

Thomas E. Ricks | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
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no lexus for mr 10 percent's cabinet minister?

by jjh722 on Wed, 09/02/2009 - 10:39am

the fact that he was in a corolla gives me faith that they aren't as corrupt as they've been portrayed. still, about the most important thing we could be doing is protecting government officials. if we told them to buy more armored cars with our money, they'd likely tell us to but out and give us another highly ironic lecture on efficiency in aid distribution programs. they can't seem to get enough of slapping our hand as we drop them aid like helicopter ben. luckily our other hand is free so that we can hold our noses.

Ironically... probably safer in a Corolla

by Zach on Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:25am

If his would-be assailant had known he'd be driving behind bulletproof glass, he would've brought a bomb that'd probably be as deadly regardless of the sort of glass used in windows (obviously different if you're talking about a car that's substantially armored). By making himself "vulnerable" to drive-by shootings, he could very well be making himself safer. Only about 5% of people shot at in drive-by shootings die, and those are usually people standing out in the open and not provided the substantial protection of a vehicle. Convince your enemies that a drive-by's the best way to get you and you'll survive most attacks.

Security lapse

by Saba Imtiaz on Wed, 09/02/2009 - 10:22pm

Kazmi was waiting for his bullet proof vehicle to be imported. You need to make a visit to Pakistan to see how much security most ministers have - a ministerial entourage driving by clogs up traffic for an hour - and Islamabad has so many checkpoints that it resembles an army barracks. It was a major security lapse - apparently his police squad went off to get a car filled with petrol and the nearby police station's officers didn't venture out when the shooting happened.