The Turn of the Danes

By Rick Moran

Ever since the Danish media published the cartoons featuring Mohammed, radicals have been saying that the Danes would pay for their blasphemy.

Today, they made good on that threat:

An apparent car bomb exploded outside the Danish embassy in Pakistan's capital Monday amid threats against Denmark over the reprinting of Prophet Muhammad cartoons in newspapers.

At least six people were killed and dozens were injured in the blast.

The blast echoed through Islamabad and left a crater more than three feet deep in the road in front of the embassy. Shattered glass, fallen masonry and dozens of wrecked vehicles littered the area. A plume of smoke rose above the scene as people, some bloodied, ran back and forth in a state of panic.

The explosion appeared to be a car bomb, police officer Muhammad Ashraf said. Someone parked a car in front of the embassy and it exploded at around 1 p.m, he said.

A perimeter wall of the embassy collapsed and its metal gate was blown inward, but the embassy building itself remained standing, though its windows were shattered.

Officials said at least six people -- including two policemen -- were killed and 35 people were wounded in the blast. The only foreign national reported hurt was a Brazilian woman working at the Danish Embassy. Her injuries were not serious, Brazil's Foreign Ministry said.

Previously, extremists in Syria had torched the Danish embassy but everyone got out allright. These are the first casualties associated with the cartoon controversy.

One has to wonder how much Pakistan's new policy in dealing with the extremists had to do with this attack. The new government has thumbed their nose at the US while openly negotiating with extremists to give them some of what they want in order to stop their bombings.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.