Benazir Bhutto killed in attack
Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a presumed suicide attack.
News of her death was confirmed by a military spokesman and members of her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Ms Bhutto had just addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi when gunfire and an explosion occurred.
At least 15 other people are reported killed in the attack and several more were injured. Ms Bhutto had twice been the country’s prime minister.
She had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January.
The BBC’s Barbara Plett says the killing is likely to provoke an agonised response from her followers, especially from her loyal following in Sindh Province.
Hard times coming.
Update: Even “normal” democratic processes inspire mayhem in Pakistan. This is very likely to be a bloodbath.
Bhutto was a member of Pakistan’s political elite, leader of the country’s largest political party and the daughter of former President and Prime Minister Zulkifar Ali Bhutto. The Harvard educated Benazir Bhutto was the first female premier of a Muslim state, and a voice of political moderation. Despite allegations of corruption and misrule stemming from her previous time in office, the US government had placed fond hopes on Ms Bhutto’s ability to nudge Pakistan back towards democracy and draw the poison of Islamist opposition parties.
The attack occurred in Rawalpindi, a garrison city that BBC correspondents say is one of Pakistan’s most secure locations. A region already much given over to conspiracy theories will note that the power-sharing arrangement Bhutto had cobbled together with Pervez Musharraf had recently broken down.
Update 2: Christ, can’t we just leave off it? For 24 hours? The most unstable part of an unstable world just got that bit closer to shaking itself to nuclear bits and political navel-gazers pundits are already trying to figure out which presidential candidate this “helps” more.
Fux ache.
My first thought is “I bet this give Musharraf (sp?) all he needs to cancel the elections.”
My second thought is “Who is securing the nukes?”
God forbid they have a Broken Arrow….
NYTimes and WSJ report shooting first, then a suicide bombing. I’ve not heard of that variation on the theme, but it stands to reason that if it absolutely, positively has to work …
Cap’n,
Oh yes, this will cause trouble. Speculation that AQ is rying to destabilize Pakistan just got firmer.
There is so much about this that is frightening, especially as indicated by Albany Rifles above – the nukes.
The last thing the world needs is a destabilized Pakistan – even moreso than before the honorable Ms. Bhutto was killed.
I agree – this is shaping up to be a bloodbath. I have all sorts of theories of who/why/what/etc. but it really doesn’t matter, does it? God, help us.
Shipmates,
Well, AQ has already claimed credit for the assasination. It seems those lunatics really DO want to bring about Armaggedon, or at least their own local version of it.
Thing is, Bhutto was very popular in Pakistan, and the terrorists simply couldn’t take the chance on stability actually taking hold. They need chaos and disorder to function, it’s an extra weapon for them, sort of an enhancement of their arsenal. A force multiplier, if you will.
However, besides the nuke question, there is the very real possibility of a bloodbath here. Bhutto, not too long ago, stated emphatically that Pakistan could not exist with more than one army, more than one militia, more than one government, and the people by and large supported her.
This would not be a good time to be associated with AQ or the Taliban. They may well have bitten off much more than they can chew. I hope the bastards choke on it.
I see bad times ahead.
Things could really turn ugly in that region.
AQ and the Taliban have definately bitten off more than they can chew here.
Sorry to hear this. Agree with the last two comments.
Things will get worse before they get better.
Amazing thing is that security wasn’t tighter. She was a known target.
I fear that by this time next week, the U.S. and India will be working on the attack to take out the Pakistani nuclear arsenal.
This is really very scary. With Pakistan being a nuclear power we can’t react militarily without risking having one of our assets hit in the region. OTOH, we can’t really afford to sit by and do nothing either. If I had to guess, the NMCC is working on a plan to surge deploy a carrier and other assets to the region to help out if neccessary… wouldn’t you think Captain?
Jim C
Shipmates (I LIKE that term Tim!)
Yes, AQ certainly bit off I big chunk of trouble, but not necessarily from just Pakistan. Undermining other Muslim countries may be just the ticket to getting the entire Muslim world after them.
Let us conjecture on how Pervez could respond. Ture, he could send his army into Tora Bora to find Bin Laden’s cave, but to what end? He needs AQ to keep his country under the Emergency Declaration and, thus virtual one man rule. What about nukes? I sure he could zorch the region into glass, but would that get Bin Laden and Zawahiri? No way of telling once the area cools down. No, i expect massive response against the populace. Round up the usual suspects, put ‘em in a deep hole and ride out the turbulence.
What about the populace? I expect Pervez won’t be leaving the immediate vicinity of his palace any time soon.
We must keep in mind that Ms. Bhutto and her father weren’t exactly friends of the United States. Their nuclear weapons program was started by her father and was also advanced significantly when she was the PM.
The A.Q. Khan network of proliferation also flourished during part of her time as PM.
Though this is a bad sign, I have to keep in mind that she also had a downside for U.S. interests.
Shipmates,
There have already been calls for the US to demand Mushariff step down from power in Pakistan. I believe that to be a very short-sighted and dangerous idea. I would like to ask those who pose such demands whether they remember the last time we forced a Middle Eastern leader to step down. Remember the Shaw in 1976? Yeah… that worked out really well, didn’t it?
The two most important things at the moment are keeping Pakistan from collapsing into anarchy and securing their nuclear weapons.
I do not doubt in the least that the latter has already been done. Now the former needs to be addressed, and that right quickly.
The vacuum created by him stepping down would create a hell on earth in that region.
When someone in the US hierarchy of power flaps their gums about some leader of another nation stepping down, they should first look to see who will take the reins shortly thereafter.
That statement is incredibly short sighted as AW1 Tim has stated.
Interview prior to her death at Parade:
‘A Wrong Must Be Righted’
Bhutto may have had her problems… but, she wanted to go after the Taliban and AQ. That’s more than I can say for Musharrif. I know that domestic politics has kept him from getting too frisky in terms of going after the Taliban and AQ, but he seems to have laid down and played dead lately… and that’s inexcusable.
Jim C
If Pakistan goes sideways, the logistics for A’stan become very problematic.
Hope for stability.
Cheers!
Chris
praying hard…..this is very scary.
Who is the blonde bimbo filling in for Billy O tonight? what a tacky, totally class-less thing to say, that no other politicians in Bhutto’s party will “want to stick their necks out”
incredible. just incredible, that she’d say something like that….and she knew what she was doing, since before she said it, she made some kind of little ‘bad phrase to use today’ comment.
unintentionally, that would be bad. Knowing, and saying it anyway……she needs to find another job.
d
I can’t wait to see what will happen. This is the stirring of the hornet’s nest we needed to get something going. We’ve been sitting around pretending that Pakistan is our friend for far too long. It’s a sick joke.
I’m tired of pretending we’re on the same side. Let’s get it all out on the table, and get on with whatever it is we need to do to make real progress in that region. I agree, things will get worse, before they get better.
When asked why she was doing what she was doing and if she was worried about being killed, she reportedly told the media, “Insha Allah.”
And so it goes…
Insha Allah
Army Girl,
Nation-States don’t have ‘friends’ they merely have their own interests at heart. Pervez takes that well known phrase to hie personal heart. He’s in power, likes being in power and will do “anything to stay in power.
An unstable Pakistan (when was it ever ’stable?) helps promote AQ’s agenda as well as Pervez.
“Bubble, toil and trouble, fire burn and caldron bubble”
Senior D and Army Girl,
Oy vey, what to say? First of all, Army Girl, the idea that it would be better to “get it all out in the open would benefit us” is frustration, not analytical intelligence talking. As scream-inducing as working with the Pakistanis might be, they have reasons for being less than forthcoming as well. They sided with us during the Cold War and let us send aid to the Muj in Afghanistan in the face of a truly existential threat to us and them (the Soviets, allied at that time quite closely to India). They put a lot on the line when we needed help – and then, what happens during the 9os? We pretty much leave them alone and on their own (even putting sanctions on them over their nuke program and kicking out their guys from West Point and working with us). They have good reason not to trust us – and they are taking risks going after the islamists even to the degree they have (and if y ou want to understand why Musharef ultimately is more likely to work with us even in fits and starts than not – this photo should help…
http://www.kdavies.dircon.co.uk/pics/08.jpg
- do you get the secret code, arf, arf?). Bottom line – domestically we are not that serious about the GWOT yet we are asking the Pakis, Saudis, et al, to tear apart their societies where Islamists have real power, and to do it in ways that don’t offend our delicate sensibilities – and oh, by the way, we might change our minds with an election and leave them with all the damage that waging such a battle gets them while piously denouncing their excesses. The wonder is that we get any cooperation at all, not that we get reluctant help mixed with our “friends” hedging their bets.
Senior D – yes, strangely enough Pervez likes being in power since he launched his coup to prevent being ousted and replaced by the CO of that truly pro-western organization, the ISI. I guess the question is – given that he is keeping things from truly spinning out of control, might he be the closest thing to a friend we have locally? I don’t mean to romanticize the Pakistanis here, but we have to realize how dangerous for them it is to do what we are asking them to do, and how our own divisions make them concerned – maybe they want to live after our next election? That is how high the stakes are for them – and given that is the case we might be better off learning to live with less than perfect cooperation until we’ve demonstrated some staying power – cause right now it is not clear whether we ourselves really get the difference between interests and ideology.
doorkeeper,
That was Laura Ingraham and she ain’t no bimbo…
Poor choice of words on her part which she immediately claimed, but last I heard MS. Bhutto was shot at and died of a fall not of a an Al Queda beheading.
A little context please. She was talking about emergent opposition leadership coming out not methods of assasination. Recommend pray some more.
b2
I really hurted of mohtarma benazir bhutto murder i am a huge fan of her she was so brave woman i see her a week ago before her death i can never forget that moment when i listen her speech in lodhran i really salute her..