Benazair Bhutto and the Darkness Facing Pakistan

Posted on December 28, 2007 in Foreign Relations Terrorism Violence

UPDATED: Bhutto’s coterie doubts the hitting her head on the sunroof opening version of events.

Personally I don’t see this as so implausible. The Guardian photos show Bhutto’s head clearly above the sunroof opening as the shooting begins. Then comes the explosion. I think that Bhutto could have been in the process of retreating into the car when the shockwave hit and mashed her skull against the sunroof opening as officials said. How she died in this incident is not that great a point: the fact is she is dead and Musharraf is to pay for not providing her with security, one or more of Bhutto’s enemies (maybe the Taliban/Al Qaeda) for the mechanics of the assassination.

The Pakistani government has been very quick to blame this on Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Looking back over Bhutto’s life, forces within the country have damned her for corruption and yet done nothing about the corruption at the heart of the army, which has repeatedly stepped in for the sake of “order”. One wonders if an old-style Islam resides in their heart so that they just can’t take a female leader.

In choosing these links, I have gone outside the United States, choosing ones from the region and from Great Britain which has a historical relationship with Pakistan. That the story about the email has only appeared in The Times of India is an indication to me that the Western press wants to exonerate Musharraf and do it’s knee-jerk-quick-step dance of blaming the Taliban. Maybe the Taliban did orchestrate this, but Musharraf gave them a hand by ignoring previous attacks on her and not supplying her with additional guards. This claim of assasination by neglect needs to be checked.

• Benazair suspected that Musharraf was out to kill her by not providing her with enough security.
• First hand account of the attack on Benazair Bhutto
• An Indian look at her legacy which included being named one of the World’s 50 Most Beautiful People
• Bhutto died of a skull fracture
• A tragedy born of military despotism and anarchy — “The Bhutto family should not be asked for any more sacrifices.”
• The Taliban is blamed but no evidence is provided.
• A list of probable assassins.

Towards what darkness does Pakistan go? Civil war or stronger military dictatorship?

[tags]Bhutto, Benazair Bhutto, assassination, assassinations, South Asia, Pakistan, civil war, Taliban, Al Qaeda, terrorism, violence, foreign relations[/tags]