Thursday, December 27, 2007
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Bhutto Assassinated at Pakistan Political Rally
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Posted by:
Mary Katharine Ham at
9:21 AM
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The opposition leader, who had survived one assassination attempt in October, was in Rawalpindi when she was attacked. She was reportedly shot twice before a blast went off, further injuring her and killing at least 12 others. Awful news.
“At 6:16 p.m. she expired,” said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Ms. Bhutto’s party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack, according to The Associated Press.Hundreds of supporters had gathered at the rally, which was being held at Liaqut Bagh, a park that is a common venue for political rallies and speeches, in Rawalpindi, the garrison city adjacent to the capital. Amid the confusion after the explosion, the site was littered with pools of blood. Shoes and caps of party workers were lying on the asphalt, and shards of glass were strewn about the ground. Farah Ispahani, a party official from Ms. Bhutto’s party, said: “It is too soon to confirm the number of dead from the party’s side. Private television channels are reporting 20 dead.” Television channels were also quoting police sources as saying that at least 14 people were dead. Update: They tried to take out another former prime minister, too:
The latest bombing was the second outbreak of political violence in Pakistan today. Earlier, gunmen opened fire on supporters of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, from an office of the party that supports President Musharraf, killing four Sharif supporters, police said. Mr Sharif was several kilometres away from the shooting and was on his way to Rawalpindi after attending a rally.
Update: Here's an eerie preview story about the upcoming rally from Dec. 26. All was calm in Rawalpindi, the same place Bhutto's father, a former prime minister, was hanged in 1979 in the aftermath of a military coup.
The unusual calm at the site on early Wednesday evening, broken by a youth playing on a guitar with a singing partner in what they called a training session, contrasted with the hustle and bustle of election in the nearby city where Bhutto’s imposing picture was on almost every election banner or poster of PPP candidates for the city’s three National Assembly and five Punjab assembly seats to be contested on Jan 8 by all the three major parties, which include the previous ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and Pakistan Muslim-N (PML-N). Bhutto's assassination will likely at least postpone scheduled Jan. 8 elections, and create further unrest in an already volatile nuclear-armed country.
Riaz Malik, of the opposition Pakistan Movement for Justice party (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf), warned: "The impact will be that Pakistan is in more turmoil - it will be the start of civil war in Pakistan. "There is a very real danger of civil war in Pakistan." He said that while suspicion was likely to fall on insurgent groups based in the northern tribal areas near the Afghan border, the killing was bound to increase dissatisfaction with the regime of President Pervez Musharraf. "There will be a lot of fingers pointed at the government," he said.
Read about Bhutto's lifelong struggle in Pakistani politics, here:
General Zia-ul-Haq was killed in a plane crash in 1988 and in December of that year Ms Bhutto became Prime Minister at the age of 35. But by 1990 her administration was over amid charges of corruption and Zia's protege Nawaz Sharif took over the reins of power. However, Ms Bhutto's political career was far from over. She returned as Prime Minister in 1993 only to fall from power again in 1996 amid more corruption scandals. More than a decade of exile - some of it spent in London - was to follow before she returned to Pakistan in autumn this year to prepare for elections in 2008. More than 130 people were killed and around 450 injured in a suicide bomb attack in October 2007 while Ms Bhutto was en route to a rally in Karachi. She was unhurt. She said of her life: "I didn't choose this life, it chose me,'' Bhutto wrote in the preface to the second edition of her autobiography, Daughter of the East, in April 2007. ``Born in Pakistan, my life mirrors its turbulence, its tragedies and its triumphs. Pakistan is no ordinary country. And mine has been no ordinary life.'' From the Pakistan People's Party's website, Bhutto's vision:
Pakistan is at a crossroads. We citizens are faced with a decisive choice this January 8th, election day. We can turn our backs on the years of dictatorship, fundamentalism, and economic decline. The Pakistan People's Party is ready to lead our beloved country into a brighter future of prosperity, peace, and security. For you and for our country's future, I am ready to lead. Update: U.S. checking into al Qaeda's claim of responsibility for the murder:
While al Qaeda is considered by the U.S. to be a likely suspect in the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Banazir Bhutto, U.S. intelligence officials say they cannot confirm an initial claim of responsibility for the attack, supposedly from an al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan. An obscure Italian Web site said Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, al Qaeda's commander in Afghanistan, told its reporter in a phone call, "We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahedeen." It said the decision to assassinate Bhutto was made by al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al Zawahri in October. Before joining Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, Zawahri was imprisoned in Egypt for his role in the assassination of then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
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This is just a reminder of how well we are off in this country.As much as we disagree we don't resort to this kind of mayhem and thuggery.I really feel bad for this woman because of her raw courage.It's also a reminder of how dangerous these people are and sooner or later they are coming back over here or maybe dispatch a rogue nuclear missle.Politically in this country,I think it helps Guliani in the long run.Huckabee going after terrorists with wing tips or shooting pheasants ain't gonna cut it. |
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__Whether Al Qaeda, Hamas, etc., etc., radical terrorist feel the noose tightening, and they strike in desperation. I am grieved by the assassination Bhutto, along with all those who lost their lives during the attack. My eye's see this grievious destruction from the other side of the world, in the safety of a home with protection taken for granted. I can only imagine the anxiety, and anger, of Pakistan's people today. The uproar that is going to occur will be exactly what the perpetrators of this action want. I can hear the left, in America, crying, "It's all our fault!", and using this as a tool to get our presence out of the Middle East. The noose that tightens around their neck, as we fight the evil they permitted to grow, safe, and secure, on the other side of the world. |
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The world just became a more dangerous place. |
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The obvious culprits are the Islamofascists but there is another player who benefits mightily from this horrible deed...Nawaz Sharif. He was the one that sanctioned the Pakistani nuke program and was a mentor of AQ Khan, who helped get the North Korean and Iranian nuke programs up and running in the 90's. Musharraf took power after Sharif tried to kill him by refusing an airplane with a couple of hundred passengers (one of which was Musharraf) permission to land. He is a conniving, corrupt and devious man and he is a long step closer to regaining power with Ms. Bhutto's death. Sharif is capable of having made some kind of deal with the Islamocrazies to further that end.
I dont have any way to support this speculation with evidence. It is based on past actions and the fact that Sharif will use this incident to seize power and thus is its greatest beneficiary. |
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Please, remember, that Mrs. Bhutto may have been educated in America and may have learned to talk to Americans, but she was a very dangerous woman. She was not exiled from Pakistan as a political exile. She could not return to Pakistan because she faced criminal charges of corruption. When she returned to Pakistan it was because those crimes were forgiven by Musharref (those she had wronged no longer had the right to press their claims in Pakistani courts).
Bhutto's smuggler husband used the family's position to gain great wealth.
Her words may have seemed pro-Democracy, but her actions have never backed them up. She was ruthless to political opponents. There were claims back in the 80's that she ordered her own brother assassinated when she couldn't control him. She wanted her old power back. It was never about the good of Pakistan. |
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Some Americans see certain images and think they understand. They feel great sympathy for Bhutto because she spoke English well, had a Harvard education, and was the first woman prime minister in the macho muslim world.
How much do people here know about this woman's background? Her father, though treated shamefully by those who came after him, was a communist. He nationalized (took over) private schools, hospitals, and even people's estates. These policies were intended to "even out" wealth. They resulted in fewer Pakistanis having access to education and health services. Many of these insitutions were Christian-based and aimed at helping the poorest citizens. Under nationalization these properties were given to government toadies who used them for selfish gain, mismanaging them into oblivion.
This was Bhutto's family background of democracy. Take power and distribute it to those you fancy.
Who do you think was the first to conduct audits of government agencies to cut down on corruption? It wasn't the prime minister with the glossy American veneer (Bhutto). It was the general who was so sick of political corruption that he staged a coup (Musharref). |
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that the liberal left would start blaming Bush for this.
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Talking Points Memo, has an inerview with Bhutto's nearest and longest pillar of support, who is blaming Musharraf.
Who knows how inbiased he is, or what he really knows, but the interview is interesting nonetheless. |
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Everybody has an investment in blaming somebody - her people are likely to Mushareff, Rudy has a campaign investment in blaming Alqaida, Bush profits from blaming the ever-generic "terrorists', referring to anyone who opposes his middle east strategy, etc. etc. |
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Liberals are so desperate to spread the religion of Socialism that they are always willing to overlook the corruption and misrule that follow the installation of an anti-free market clique at the helm of power.The Bhuttos,father and daughter, damaged Pakistan and were no friends of the US or freedom. |
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Hussein Haqqani's statement:
""There is only one possibility: the security establishment and Musharraf are complicit, either by negligence or design. That is the most important thing. She's not the first political leader killed, since Musharraf took power, by the security forces."
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We do need to be there,what have we given up ?How have we sacraficed?Anyone remember"" Rosey the Rivitor?"Loss of life on both sides is traggic but our troops are not daunted by that thought most are there to their job and do it well.To take this horrible war to a victory.Fred Thompson is on the right track to ensure our security in every sense of the word.Give a listen to him and you'll find there is not much to disagree with concerning his policies.God bless us all. |
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Fred Thompson thinks that he deserves the presidency. What a joke!! He doesn't even have the stamina, the energy, and the enthusiasm to campaign, let alone to lead the country in the uncertainty and rough world.
Summing up, your guy is not convincing.
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