Just over a month ago Australians went to the polls to select a government. There were no assassination attempts. There were no suicide bombings. The public was continuously assailed with advertising by both sides of politics - but the issues spanned the running of the nation in either a conservative or a socialist manner.
Absent as an issue was - religion ! It is doubtful if the average voter had the faintest clue as to the religious preference of any of the candidates.
Just twelve days away from an election to restore democracy in Pakistan things are very different. An embattled president is retreating from virtual martial law and former leader Benazir Bhutto returned to the country to contest the election.
There have been numerous assassination attempts against the president - all of them unsuccessful - but the second attack on Bhutto saw her shot dead - and the assailant then detonated explosives that killed many of her supporters.
The problem is a hard core of al Qaeda fanatics who refuse to accept any form of democratic government. They will continue to bomb and kill in the hope that one day the Pakistan people will revolt - similar to the happening in Iran - and elevate them to power.
If that happens Pakistan will become a theocracy. The ruling fanatics will dictate who will be educated. What people may view or listen to. What form of dress will be worn nationally - and what will become of that county's nuclear arsenal.
It may never happen - but if it does then world war three is almost inevitable !
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