KNUT DEN MAKTIGE, King of England, Denmark and Norway, commonly known as Canute the Great of England (1016-1035) was surrounded by sycophantic courtiers who never failed to flatter him. You are the greatest man in the world, one would tell him. Another, there is nothing you cannot do. And another, you are the monarch of all.

A sensible man, Canute, he soon grew tired of this insane flattery and decided one fine day to put an end to it. Walking by the seashore, with the chatterers trotting out their usual praise, he asked them if it were their contention that all things obey him. Absolutely, they toadied in unison. ‘Right,’ said the king, `bring me a chair, and put it close to the sea, right at the water’s edge.’ He sat down. ‘The tide is coming in,’ he said. ‘Will it stop if I command it to so do?’ The flatterers dare not say no. ‘Give the order, they said, ‘and the sea will obey.’

‘Right,’ said Canute. ‘Oh mighty waves, stop your rolling. Come no closer’, he cried. The waves advanced and lapped his feet. Again, he commanded that it stop. In answer another wave swept forward, and another, and another until he was almost knee deep in water.

He turned to his foolish courtiers. `It seems that I am not as powerful as you think,’ he told to them, smiling. `Perhaps now you have learned something and perhaps you will now reserve your flattery and praise for the one who is all powerful and rules all, the seas included.’

This little story used to be taught to young children in schools when they were first introduced to history, so that from an early age they would learn to beware of false flattery. It seems that President General Pervez Musharraf missed out on this one.The General, no fundo he, can take on the Taliban if he wishes to so do, and the same with the bigots and unenlightened. Reason having finally failed, logic and reasoning being no match for fanaticism, he has at last taken on the mullahs of the Lal Masjid.

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By Omar Waraich
Published: 07 July 2007

Benazir Bhutto has said she is determined to return to Pakistan because her country, facing the worst turmoil since its military ruler General Pervez Musharraf seized power in a coup in 1999, needs her.

Ms Bhutto, who was twiceprime minister and is now in exile in Dubai, said in an interview with The Independent that she was not deterred by the threat of corruption charges, nor by constitutional amendments that bar anyone from being elected for a third term.

“I intend to go back before the year’s end and contest the elections. And if my people wish, they will lift that ban to enable me to then serve them as prime minister for a third time.” Her remarks come as General Musharraf faces mounting opposition, triggered by his decision to suspend the country’s chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry.

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Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf appears to have survived his fourth known assassination attempt. Pakistani state-owned television said gunshots were heard July 6 near the Chaklala military air base in Rawalpindi as the president’s airplane was taking off. Musharraf has reportedly landed safely in Turbat, a remote town in the southwest that has been affected by recent flooding.

Musharraf has more enemies than he can count these days, and an attempt on his life is not surprising. The Pakistani general was targeted by al Qaeda militants twice in 2003 in the capital, Islamabad, and once in 2002 in Karachi. Pakistani military spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad denied that the shots fired from a rooftop near the air base in Rawalpindi had targeted Musharraf’s plane and said the gunfire was unrelated to the president. However, Pakistani sources have said there was an attempt on Musharraf’s life.

Although the last military ruler of Pakistan, President Gen. Mohammed Zia-ul Haq, was killed in a mysterious plane crash in 1988 (believed to have been an inside job), and although there is a significant level of concern among Musharraf’s commanders because of his dire political situation, this assassination attempt is unlikely to have involved the military. It was most likely perpetrated by al Qaeda elements — and not very sophisticated ones at that. Junior military officers were involved in car bombings in 2003 that targeted Musharraf, but they were sophisticated attacks in close proximity to the president.

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Day 5 of the situation unfolding in Islamabad.

Islamabad metblogs has the latest information on what is happening in Islamabad.