Hotel Bombing in Pakistan

From Becca Smith:

Saturday, September 20th, there was a bombing at Marriott Hotel in Pakistan, with the government describing it as 'an attack on democracy.' Sadly, the death toll is currently at 53 people, with 266 being injured. There were two Americans killed in the blast.

The new current Pakistan president, Asif Ali Zardari, is in a difficult spot because he needs to choose how to respond. It is possible that his citizens would resist to more fighting since Pakistani people do not agree with using force against militants because they feel it puts their citizens at risk of being killed (like the bombing at the Marriott Hotel). However, it is important that President Zardari avoids siding with anything that coincides with the Bush Doctrine, because citizens are especially fearful of anything American.

Even with citizens resisting force, the military believes that is it important to fight back. Amir Haider Khan Hoti, the chief minister of the North-West Frontier Province, was quoted in the New York Times today saying "There should be no letup now in fighting those who do not believe in negotiations and are bent upon causing destruction."

I believe that it Pakistan should not try to retaliate for the hotel bombing. Although it was an awful disaster, they should spend their time focusing on ways to find who is responsible and make sure that they go through the legal system. I think it is wise of the civilians to resist fighting. It would not be worth it to lose more innocent civilians.