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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Oct-04
Massive terrorist bombings yesterday in Pakistan, Iraq and Egypt cause hundreds of casualties across the Mideast in a single day

Web Log - October, 2004

Massive terrorist bombings yesterday in Pakistan, Iraq and Egypt cause hundreds of casualties across the Mideast in a single day

The Pakistan government has ordered a ban on all public gatherings, following a car bombing in Multan, Pakistan, that killed 40 people and injured hundreds. The bomb went off near a crowd of 3,000 Sunni Muslims who had congregated for a memorial service.

The bombing of the Sunni congregation was evidently in retaliation for a bombing last week of a Shi'ite temple in Sialkot that killed 31, and caused massive riots and looting.

The ban on all public gatherings was ordered evidently to prevent further rounds in the cycle of violence. No indication was given for how long the ban would last.

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, this follows a familiar pattern which we've seen recently in Russia, France, Israel, and America -- the willingness of a nation to sacrifice individual rights in favor of unifying the nation for its own survival.

Pakistani officials on Thursday were saying things like, "Terrorists want to damage the integrity of Pakistan through such acts."

These kinds of words -- saying that terrorist acts are attacks on the nation rather than attacks on individuals -- are the same sorts of things we've heard from Russian President Putin and American President Bush. It's this kind of language -- a call for national unity against a common enemy -- that is one of the signals that a nation has entered a generational crisis period.

This was also a day when insurgents fired two rockets into a Baghdad hotel occupied by journalists and foreign contractors. No deaths were reported.

But the day couldn't end without more bombings. A massive truck bomb explosion at an Egyptian Red Sea resort was quickly followed by coordinated bombings at two more resorts.

Egypt has long been a target of Islamic extremists. In 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was murdered by Islamic extremists in retaliation for having signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979. Today, Islamic extremists remain very critical of Egypt for having relative cordial relations with Israel and America.

However, the Egyptian bombings appear to be directed against Israel, rather than Egypt. The targets were hotels on Egyptian soil, but it was clear that the bombs were directed against the hundreds of Israelis who were guests of the hotels. There were dozens of deaths and over 120 injuries.

Thus, we don't hear Egyptian officials saying anything like, "These are attacks against the nation of Egypt." Indeed, Egypt is apparently not yet in a generational crisis period, since its last crisis war was the Egyptian Revolution, 1948-1954, which ended only 50 years in the past.

As we wrote on September 11, terrorism is increasing significantly around the world. With multiple terrorist bombings all across the Mideast, October 7, 2004, has to be considered one of the worst days. (8-Oct-04) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Oct-04 Massive terrorist bombings yesterday in Pakistan, Iraq and Egypt cause hundreds of casualties across the Mideast in a single day

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Oct-04
Massive terrorist bombings yesterday in Pakistan, Iraq and Egypt cause hundreds of casualties across the Mideast in a single day