The Pakistani public, though by no means enthusiastic about the U.S. action in Abbottabad, seems to have lost its taste for the jihadi ideology that has evolved over the years in the course of the fight against the Russians in Afghanistan and the Indians in Kashmir. The once-palpable enthusiasm for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban has diminished after waves of suicide attacks on cities, mosques, schools, markets, and other public and private places.
In a shrewd assessment of the public mood, the religious parties, always searching for excuses to bring the people into the streets, have opted to remain silent on the killing of bin Laden, once a hero for most of them.
To know Osama is to hate him, I guess. It was all fun and games when the jihadi fanboys could cheer attacks against distant "enemies of Islam," but when those enemies turned out to be their own cities and people? Well, that's not so much fun, now is it?
So I guess that despite some high-profile mourning gatherings in Pakistan by the committed jihadis, far more can't seem to work up a proper outrage over the gangly dork's death.
Really, the European "street" seems more openly upset about Osama's death than the Moslem street.
