PAKISTAN'S NEW YEAR – AT 5:35 P.M. ET:  The terrorists never sleep.  Now Pakistan feels the brunt of a holiday bombing, underlying the fact that terror has increased in the last year.  From the Washington Post:

KARACHI, PAKISTAN -- A suicide bomber blew up his sport-utility vehicle in the middle of a village volleyball game in northwestern Pakistan on Friday afternoon, killing 75 people and injuring more than 100 in a community that has repeatedly defied Taliban extremists.

Police speculated that the horrific bombing in the village of Shah Hassan Khel, in the Lakki Marwat district, was an act of reprisal against area leaders who last year formed private militias to oppose the Taliban and recently turned in a group of extremist fighters to the authorities.

The message, of course, is clear:  This is what happens to you if you defy us.  The fact that the victims were Muslims give the lie to "experts" who tell us that if only we would be nicer, all would be okay. 

Several previous attacks were clearly carried out in retaliation against communities and leaders who resisted the Taliban. In November, a bombing in a rural market killed a local mayor who had openly defied the extremists. As more communities begin fighting back, there is concern that reprisal attacks will also increase.

The question is whether the will to resist will be broken by the reprisals. 

The stability of Pakistan is critical to us, especially as Pakistan has a ready stockpile of nuclear weapons. Pakistan is joined with Iran as a major foreign policy issue for the Obama administration in this new year.

January 1, 2010