 |
Benazir Bhutto Assassinated |
 |
Pakistan’s former prime minister and leader of the Pakistan People’s Party was assassinated during a campaign rally in Rawalpindi today. Details are still sketchy, but it appears a gunman shot Bhutto, then detonated a suicide bomb, leading to the deaths of at least a dozen individuals. Bhutto was rushed to a local hospital where doctors tried to revive her but were unsuccessful. She was pronounced dead at 18:16 local time.
People in Pakistan have responded to the news of Bhutto’s death with mixed emotions. Her political opponent Nawaz Sharif expressed sadness, calling her death a “tragedy for the entire nation.” Others have expressed anger, and the police used tear gas in Peshawar to breakup a demonstration of angry Bhutto supporters. This bombing was the second attack against Bhutto’s life since she returned to Pakistan in October, yet Bhutto was determined to continue her campaign.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but all parties seem to be pointing their fingers at extremists. A close aid to Musharraf has blamed Islamist extremists and U.S. President Bush, in his recent appearance, blamed extremists and praised Bhutto for her dedication to promoting democracy in Pakistan–despite the apparent risks to her life. Bhutto’s assassination raises doubts about whether general elections will continue as planned in January and the United Nations Security Council will be meeting for emergency consultations “to discuss the situation in Pakistan after the killing.”
Our condolences go out to the nation of Pakistan and to the friends and family members whose loved ones were lost or injured in today’s attack. The Seminal will be posting new details as they become available, but more importantly, this is an open forum to discuss recent events in Pakistan. Share your thoughts below.
I think this basically confirms the idea that Pakistan is going to be the most problematic country in the Middle East far into the future, even more problematic than Iraq or Afghanistan.
This turn of events was saddening, but not shocking. I think Bhutto herself kind of expected this.
Oh, and any chance Musharraf was behind this? That’s what some are saying…
Yes, I agree. Bhutto’s assassination is shocking, but it isn’t too surprising.
In a number of ways, Musharraf is to blame–the U.S. could also take responsibility–for letting certain conditions exist in Pakistan, for failing to offer Benazir the protection she needs as a politician in Pakistan, for making “democracy” a farce, etc. It’s hard to say whether Musharraf had any direct connection to the events today; and I doubt there will be an investigation with enough impartiality and clout to definitively say whether Musharraf had knowledge of the plan or not. Despite all of the corrpution in Musharraf’s presidential politics to date, I don’t believe that he would’ve had a direct hand in the assassination today (or the attempt in October). Self-interest alone would keep him out of the fray, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of his “aides” are responsible.
I also think it was a little brazen for President Bush to make a speech justifying the “war on terror” in the wake of Bhutto’s assassination. Hasn’t he learned that terror begets terror? Or that it is difficult to promote law and order when the nation’s leadership continually breaks the law?
On the Kubler-Ross model, I’m at stage two: anger.