I thought Ms. Bhutto was very brave to return to Pakistan. As a secular democrat she had the far right military threat to contend with as well as the threat from religious extremists who hated her for her secular politics, including the simple offense of being a powerful woman.
I feel very sad about this event even though I guess I knew it was coming. Gandhi, King, the Kennedys, Wellstone and the myriad of lesser-known folks who have had intention to create a more just and peaceful world met the same fate. I want to believe that we shall overcome some day.
Posted by angel at December 27, 2007 06:16 AMTook a cab ride with a Pakistani cabbie several months ago. He had talk radio on and they were discussing the American elections. He asked me who I thought was gonna be the next president. I told him 'probably Hillary Clinton'. He agreed. He expressed great pain at the state of Pakistan's governance and the prospect for elections there. This was right when talk of Bhutto returning was heating up. He said to me almost matter-of-factly, "She'll go back and they will kill her".
Posted by snark at December 27, 2007 06:21 AMi don't recall an assassination being so obvious, and so telegraphed, since benigno aquino's.
Posted by Turkana at December 27, 2007 06:28 AM"I want to believe that we shall overcome some day."
Amen, Angel.
Another gloomy day for a world in which souls who try to make a difference are taken out of the way, lest their message spread like a virus. Hopefully,
“We shall all be free
We shall all be free
We shall all be free some day…”
PAZ
I hate to always be the cynic but once again tragedy works perfect for the bu$h administration.
They get to keep their puppet general and the war on Islam continues to be fueled.
And worst of all... more innocents will continue to die!!
Posted by Seven of Six at December 27, 2007 06:46 AMq- i wasn't sure how to handle yesterday's requests (being new around here), so i forwarded to mary and i saw that she took care of it. just wanted you to know i wasn't ignoring you!
Posted by Turkana at December 27, 2007 06:48 AMT-I saw you were so busy posting that I didn't give it a second thought.
Keep up the good work!
PAZ
Posted by quídam at December 27, 2007 06:56 AMBloody hell.
Our Turkey-In-Chief is right - telegraphed and obvious. Ms. Bhutto was both brave and crazy to have returned and then defied Musharaf when he predictably decided to renege on their deal.
Posted by idiosynchronic at December 27, 2007 06:58 AMThe chickens have come back to roost. The current islamic terrorisom in Pakistan is its own creation. For last 20 years Pakistan has groomed these islamists to fight proxy war against India in Kashmir. These terrorists had full support of Pakistani governemt and the intelligence service. They have carried out terrorists attacks in India for last 20 years. Now they are turning against their own government and it is showing these terrible results.
Islamists do not live in peace and will not let others live in peace. That is what is the history shows us and we are seeing it being repeated.
Posted by suresh at December 27, 2007 07:32 AMAnother day of Spreadin' Democracy (tm)!
George (big smile): "Just another healthy birthin' pain for the New Middle East (tm)!"
Condi (crying, disconsolate): "I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' no babies, Mistah Bush! I don' kno why I said I did!"
George (very paternally): "I know, Condi, Masta Dick is handlin' all this anyways, don' you worry none. Now where's my beer, you lil' scamp!"
Condi (joyfully): "Now that's sumthin' I kin handle, my husband!" (goes off looking for the beer, George sighs)....cue commercial.
Announcer: "Tune in tomorrow for the next installment of Bushco's Middle East Follies, when Osmama runs out of beer, with hilarious consequences!" (theme music [Leave it to Beaver], fade out)
Posted by euzoius at December 27, 2007 09:25 AMI am sure Bush is happy and relieved inside. If her party were to win elections and she had become Prime Minister, the US.' position in that area would have changed against us.
www.pafundi.com
Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 4351
1. Benazir Bhutto was sent back to Pakistan by the Bush administration. As usual, their meddling in other countries' internal affairs has led to tragedy and disaster.
2. Benazir Bhutto was an extremely corrupt politician and ran an extremely corrupt government. You can believe she was not driven by an unselfish desire to "make a difference", but by personal ambition and greed, and was merely taking advantage of an opportunity provided to her by the Bush regime.
This could lead to serious problems for Pakistani people. I am speaking with a close friend in Sialkot, and he says things are pretty tense even in his small city, and his sister, also a close friend of mine, reports troubles in Lahore. Her husband, who is a journalist, is not leaving his office tonight, which means she will be left alone to cope by herself with their baby.
My friend is understandably not able to share with me his thoughts about who might be responsible for killing her. It is even possible - thought it seems unlikely - that she was caught in crossfire when the police shot at the bomber. It seems she was shot before the blast, though even that is not certain.
Also, the party of Nawaz Sharif has decided to boycott the election (assuming that Musharraf will not cancel it, of course), which makes the whole process moot. There is really no point in holding an election in that case.
So, the winner of this round looks like Musharraf, and the loser is the Pakistani people, as usual.
Thanks George, Condi, et al! You really have a knack for taking bad situations and making them disastrously worse!
Posted by Shirin at December 27, 2007 10:10 AMshirin-
i thought musharraf banned sharif from participating, anyway. the whole thing is a sham. my new post, above, also has some expressing fear that musharraf will now cancel the election, altogether.
i hope your friend stays safe. it sounds like things are very tense, right now- even more than usual.
Posted by Turkana at December 27, 2007 10:19 AMYes, Musharraf banned Nawaz Sharif, but not his party. Now, according to my friend in Pakistan, his entire party is going to boycott the election.
Posted by Shirin at December 27, 2007 12:40 PM