**This post will be updated regularly. Please scroll down past the jump for new information**
UPDATE: al-Qaida takes responsibility.
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today in Pakistan. She was shot multiple time and then the assassin blew himself up killing 20 additional people.
Bhutto was a Muslim woman who was committed to democracy. She repeatedly stated that Islam was her religion, not her government. She believed completely it he separation of church (mosque) and state. And she had massive support in Pakistan. A woman who exemplified the fact that not all Muslims are fundamentalist maniacs. Islamist obsession with murdering her also reveals exactly how fragile the al-Qaida/Taliban death Cult really is. At the same time, this opens the door to a civil war in Pakistan. Another situation which makes us have to seriously think about who we want in the White House for the next 4 years. And whether or not President Bush has the cajones to aggressively deal with Islamists if they attempt to gain control of Paki nukes. Frankly, right this minute I’d be more comfortable with Giuliani in the White House instead of Bush.
At 3:30pm PT I will have Claudia Rossett on KABC Radio speaking about the assassination. Claudia has interviewed Bhutto and notes that while this murder is bad news for Pakistan, Bhutto was no saint. It’ll be a good discussion. Hope you can join us.
Here’s an open thread for you and various coverage as this tragedy unfolds.
There are photos at Getty Images. Some are graphic. (HT Hot Air).
Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan had a mad recklessness about it which give today’s events a horrible inevitability. As I always say when I’m asked about her, she was my next-door neighbor for a while – which affects a kind of intimacy, though in fact I knew her only for sidewalk pleasantries. She was beautiful and charming and sophisticated and smart and modern, and everything we in the west would like a Muslim leader to be – though in practice, as Pakistan’s Prime Minister, she was just another grubby wardheeler from one of the world’s most corrupt political classes…As I said, she was everything we in the west would like a Muslim leader to be. We should be modest enough to acknowledge when reality conflicts with our illusions. Rest in peace, Benazir.
Times Online UK: The Bhutto family tragedy explained
Times Online UK: Who killed Benazir Bhutto? The main suspects
WSJ: Timeline: Pakistan’s Tumultuous Year
Time: Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007)
Reuters: World outraged over Bhutto assassination
Yes I too would prefer Rudy Giuliani in the White House rather then the waffler-in-chief and his clueless Secretary of State. Benazir Bhutto was not perfect but the best we could have hoped for in such a fanatical Islamic nation as Pakistan. The Left likes to refer to Israel as a failed state which should be dissolved – well Pakistan was created around he same time as Israel and which country has contributed more to the common good?
Al Qaeda takes credit for Bhutto Asassination.
Bhutto was exiled because she was another note in the unending theme of corruption. Her family and numerous regimes that preceded, fleeced the millions and then billions in foreign aid that poured in from the west. As long as they support us politically our polititians are willing to allow any opression. Just build a library or a school once in a while so the press can wave it around for the world to see, and pocket the rest. Treat protesters as you see fit and make sure the press doesn’t see how you “dispose” of them. Then continue on your merry way raping and fleecing the country. We need a real change of direction in this country, and that will begin only when “We the People” wake up and take the purse strings away from the politcians. Drastic reductions are needed. Gulianni isn’t the guy for the job. As a U.S. attorny he continually pushed the right for easier ways to procecute people, relaxed rules for law enforcement, lower thresholds for search warrants, and so on. if we can’t figure out how to dry up the unending money spigot this govenment is going to look a lot like Pakistan, Mexico, Columbia, give up your rights and pick your sewer.
Frankly, I do not see Guiliani as the “Savior” of the Whitehouse that everyone else sees. Of the current candidates, I honestly do not see any of them as having the backbone to do what needs to be done. Buchanan would have been a good possibility. Everyone saw him as a warmonger and that really was a good thing. The troops are doing what they know to do, but they need leadership in the Oval office. We need another Ronald Reagan. But, alas, we have no one on the current political horizon.
Ms. Bhutto was not assassinated because she was corrupt or a tyrant. She was killed because she was an educated woman living in country filled with people who believe that their religion compels them to hate women. In the past, Ms. Bhutto’s terms as Prime Minister provided hope that Pakistan would evolve into a complete and legitimate democracy. Whether that hope survives will be determined by the response of Bhutto’s supporters. Let us pray that they learned the lessons taught by Corazon Aquino.
At the very least, she was the enemy of our enemy.
Bhutto’s murder is another act of mass homicide, suicide, and savagery by Islamist sub-humans.
Whether it was specifically carried out by al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or a Pakistan-based death cult is irrelevant to me. They are all tumors of the same diffuse disease. This is another step for them towards pan-Islamic rule following multiple holocausts.
Even after hitting his ‘target’, the assassin had the compulsion to complete his blood lust by blowing himself and 20 other people up. That’s because Bhutto was just the bull’s-eye; we are all the target.
Bush had the bright idea to foist a power sharing deal between Musharraf and Bhutto thinking that would shore up Musharraf’s crumbling regime. That’s what brought Bhutto back to Pakistan. Turned into another fine mess.
This story really upsets me because Benazir Bhutto seemed to be just what Pakistan and,in a larger sense,the world needed…a leader committed to the ideals of democracy,especially in a country like Pakistan. How many of the current Presidential hopefuls would still be on the campaign trail if there was a real chance they would be killed by terrorist when they stepped out in public? Probably zero! This is getting ridiculous.The people who try to do the right thing(Bhutto,Bolton,Tancredo etc) end up getting brushed aside and sometimes mudered while the wicked fiends and clueless clowns run the world.This assasination should serve to strengthen our resolve to fight Al Qaida and terrorist around the world.
I knew someone would have to blame George Bush…I’m surprised it wasn’t the democrats…
This whole situation is sad to me. But I’m not surprised. When she returned to Pakistan, I knew deep down she would probably be murdered in a terrorist attack. Bhutto was like a lot of our so called “allies”. This presents a terrible quandry for our country. How long are we going to continue to claim terrorist regimes as allies??
We can’t keep giving aid and comfort to nations that actively hate us. If the government isn’t willing to call it a war against islamic terrorism
instead of the generic “war on terror”, we’re in trouble. Now I’m wondering is Musharrf next??
Pat_S, that portrays Bhutto as a pawn of the White House, which, with all due respect, is simply nonsense. As someone with the great fortune to have briefly met her and heard her speak, let me tell you: she was NO ONE’S stooge, no one’s person but her own, and a true force of nature in her genuine commitment to her country.
Dave J–
No, Bhutto was not our tool. Musharraf is our double-dealing, back-stabbing regional ally. We depend so much on this one man as a crucial linchpin in the war on terror we cannot afford to lose him. His regime was teetering, so to prop him up we pressured Musharraf to grant Bhutto amnesty to return to Pakistan and a power sharing deal. It was a deluded attempt to put a democratic veneer on Pakistan and keep our SOB in place. Granted other nations pushed the idea too, but we had the most influence and the most at stake.
Bhutto was a courageous woman to return knowing there were a number of factions that would attempt to murder her. The greater likelihood for success was the assassination of Bhutto not the success of power sharing or establishment of democracy and that is exactly how it played out.
Marie–
When the outcome of a foreign policy strategy is flames, blood, death and impending civil war, it is rightly called a mess. I know there are people who blame Bush for every little thing. I don’t. I blame him for too many very big things gone wrong. This whole escapade was to avoid turmoil in Pakistan. It failed mightily. I’ll quote John Bolton’s remarks during his interview with Tammy–
Tammy: Was it a mistake to ask her to return to that country?
Bolton: In retrospect yes.
Later in the interview–
Bolton: By pushing the democracy priority we have now got the country tipping very close to chaos.
Examine Bush’s 7-yr record objectively and then imagine he wore the “D” brand not an “R” and ask yourself how forgiving you’d be. While eyes are focused on the debacle in the Middle East, China is investing heavily in militarization and goes out of its way to flip us off, Russia is reemerging as an anti-US totalitarian nuclear power, Iran continues it’s nuclear program laughing at the empty rhetoric coming out of Washington. Consider the threat each of those countries poses to our future individually and then consider they are forming a Russia-China-Iran alliance.
Just bad luck? There’s plenty more in Bush’s book of failures and far more than one resulting death. Take off the R-blinders and face the facts.
What a truly profound loss for all of us. Much hope was instilled in her by governments and individuals all across the globe. Her life was one of confronting the true evil before her, not being afraid to identify it and standing on the world stage in such strength, passion and bravery. She did not shudder in fear nor resign herself to a more convenient, quiet life when it was possible for her to do so. She did what most us do not: she stood solid in the face of adversity and sheer evil because it was the right thing to do. We can learn much from this brave woman.
Even in her death, she has exposed who true enemies to democracy and decency are. She fulfilled her mission.
Rest in Peace, Benazir Bhutto.
I concur with the notion that Bhutto’s assassination was a tragic event and a potential blow to our efforts to bring stability to the Middle East.
My big fear is that there aren’t enough people to really put this situation into the proper perspective. This is one area where Bush and his supporters consistently fail, in my opinion. They assume that they can issue a statement and everyone will be able to figure it out, but more often than not, we can’t. Too many Americans need things spoon-fed and simplified to the point of inaccuracy to “understand” the situation.
This is where the Left has thrived. Already there are faux liberals blaming Bush for Bhutto’s assassination, claiming that Bush was “pushing democracy too hard in Pakistan.” Regardless of how absurd the notion is, the fact is people are more willing to believe it because it’s simple to understand. America today lacks the historical perspective to truly appreciate what Bhutto represented and what we’re trying to do in Pakistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
This should be a clarion call for Americans to steel their resolve and break the backs of the terrorists around the world. Alas, I fear it won’t. Bhutto’s murder is a tragedy, if for no other reason than because it exposes how far our enemies are willing to go to eliminate threats to them and how far we’re not willing to go to cut them off.
From: http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110011055
Benazir Bhutto’s assassination was a sort of grim feminist milestone. She was, as far as we can remember, the most important female political figure to be assassinated since Indira Gandhi in 1984. (Another was Safia Ama Jan, an official with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs, who was gunned down last year.) And as silly as Hillary Clinton’s “fellow mother” comment was, she was right to describe Bhutto as “a pioneering woman”–all the more notably since South Asian Muslim societies are not as forward-looking when it comes to women’s roles as we in the West are.
So what does the National Organization for Women, America’s premier feminist organization, have to say about Bhutto’s life and death? Only this: . We did a search for “Bhutto” on NOW’s Web site and it came up empty. The top item under “Hot Topics” on NOW’s homepage is “NOW’s Naughty List: Stereotyping Toys” Here’s NOW head Kim Gandy:
“Naturally the NOW office has been abuzz about the ubiquitous “Rose Petal Cottage” TV commercials. If you haven’t seen these ads, count yourself lucky. Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I would think they were beamed in from 1955, via some lost satellite in space. . . .”
“According to the makers at Playskool, the Rose Petal Cottage is “a place where her dreams have room to grow.” And what might those dreams be? Well, baking muffins, arranging furniture and doing the dishes. The voiceover even declares that the toy house will “entertain her imagination” just before the little girl opens the miniature washing machine and says–I kid you not–“Let’s do laundry!” . . .
“Through the world of toys, girls and boys are given separate dreams to follow. Girls are prepared for a future of looking pretty, keeping house and taking care of babies. Boys are given a pass on that domain, and instead pointed toward the outside world of challenge, physical development and achievement.”
NOW has a different vision. When your daughter grows up, she can follow the example of Kim Gandy: grab a broom and sweep invidious stereotypes right out of the toy aisle! International politics? That’s icky, leave it to the boys!
We have to have a reality check regarding Bhutto. She was a corrupt politician with an even more corrupt husband. It was her government that recognized the Taliban, and she was the first leader that sought to meet Arafat in Gaza in 1994. How ironic that she is killed by the same kind of Muslim monsters as Arafat’s gang.
To read about her corruption and duplicity just google “bhutto+corruption.”