Benezir Bhutto Assassinated

Oh man... Pakistan just got more unstable.

Why should we be surprised? Is any Islamic country, anywhere, democratic? How about moderate in political climate and opinion? Turkey is probably the closest and it is no paragon of freedom. Before we get the vapors about this woman, let's examine her last two periods of power in Pakistan. She was the biggest crook in the country. She stole every thing not nailed down. Her husband was the second biggest crook in the country. Her father, the genius who brought Pakistan in the atomic age, was hanged for malfeasance. Her brother was a terrorist whom she ordered killed. She had many people killed without trial or indictment. The USA dodged a big bullet here as this regime change, to put her in power as urged by the Bush Administration, would have been another disaster. She looked nice sitting and talking to Larry King, but she was a bad apple underneath the fashion scarf.

Hard to tell if she was brave or delusional. When she was arrested in October, my prescient friend, who once met Bhutto's father in Jamaica when she was working there, said, "She'll get assassinated. It's inevitable. I understand it's her homeland, but doesn't she know what's going to happen to her if she stays?" Mohatma Gandhi assassinated in 1948. Indira Gandhi assassinated in 1984. Rajiv Gandhi assassinated in 1991. The list just seems to go drearily on and on. Depressing that the more things change over time, the more they stay the same. Violence and fanaticism still exert their malevolent pull, and we human beings seem unable to learn from the lessons of history. Also not particularly reassuring to realize that Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Or that underworld elements in Russia have been selling off nuclear components to well-heeled terrorists. Or that the Westernized free-world is being led by a callous moron who really doesn't have a clue, and doesn't seem particularly intereste... Read more

I agree with Magellan. In a nation rife with and surrounded by instability it suddenly got worse. How much worse is anybody's guess. I was reading one of the many obits floating around the web this morning and it occurred to me how much guts this woman had. her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the prime minister of Pakistan during the early 1970s. He was executed. Her two brothers were murdered. She spent five years in prison on corruption charges under extremely harsh conditions. She served two seperate terms as Prime Minister of Pakistan, and was recently allowed to return to her country were she formed an opposition party. This woman had a pair, I'll give her that.

Well, Musharraf kinda screwed the pooch here. She was asking for more security and didn't get it since Musharraf likes things to be just bad enough to keep the blank check aid flowing in that he's used mostly to consolidate his power. Now the best chance for any real progress in Pakistan is dead and for the nation as a whole its put up or shut time. They are either going to clean house or get crushed now. Keep your fingers crossed and hope India's trigger finger doesn't get too itchy if it all goes downhill...

It doesn't come as a surprise to me that this would happen to Bhutto. When she returned to Pakistan after a nearly 10 year exile, she claimed that she would likely be targeted for assassination. After her arrival this October, she was subsequently put on house arrest by Pervez Musharraf's government, while he cracked down on political opposition in lieu of holding elections. Of course, Musharraf will now likely use this assassination as an attempt to postpone elections in January. It was looking like Bhutto's opposition party was getting ready to score some significant victories. Musharraf's government has claimed that Bhutto was assassinated by al-Qaeda operatives, and the terrorist group has taken responsibility for the action. However, I wouldn't doubt it if Musharraf had a hand in the assassination. It may never be proven, but I think he at the very least collaborated to assassinate Bhutto. He was the one who stood to lose the most with her comeback bid. The fundamentalis... Read more

She was a very strong woman who stood by what she believed.  There should be more people like her everywhere.

Yet one more tragedy to fuel the flames. Some things just never change, and that's a damned shame.

A powerful women who once ran a very conservative, traditional Islamic values country like pakistan is going to be a big target. Plus it only demenstrates failed foreign policy by the US/UK, the West should completely get out of the Middle East, let them deal with their own problems, just buy the damn oil, OK, until alternate fuels are developed. This only shows that there is too much turmiol in that region.

What a terrible headline to wake up to. Bhutto represented democratic reform in Pakistan, and, just as important, democratic reform the U.S. could live with. I had high hopes for Bhutto's candidacy. From the Bush administration's perspective, it will now be difficult to imagine alternatives to supporting the existing regime for fear of losing the country and its nuclear warheads. Magellan is right: this may mean a tragic future for Pakistan ...

I had the priviledge to hear this woman speak at a conference here in San Diego when I was a senior in high school.Pakistan has lost a great stateswoman.

I think it is a shame, I didn't follow this particular story that well,  I mean, I knew as a Woman wanting to spread democracy in that terro breeding ground, and Islamic extremist every where, sure, she was asking for it. I really hate this, but It is nothing new, a lot of good people were assassinated in this world. We can also thank our current administration for this as well, you know, they want to democrasize these nations, hang it up! They live on terro. RIP Benezir.

We can only hope that, Pakistan cannot be in a terrible fix of violence inferno. Can you believe that, such shameful things happen in a democratic nation like Pakistan?. Very hard to swallow, and it's an act of cowards who have failed to seek common ground and follow the footsteps of legitimacy. These are the desparate acts of those who fail, and they waste the lives of our important icons. Shame on them. This is a failure of the Pakistani government to protect it's leaders.  2007 is a wicked year. No one will remember it sense.