God knows, Mussharref is corrupt. Maybe Bhutto is also. However, as far as the US goes, it’s irrelevent. There is only only other choice available in Pakistan. I damn sure don’t want the Taliban getting their hands on the nukes or us being forced into a war siding with India to take them out if they gain power.

I think we better hope this gamble works.

And seriously, shot in the head counts but shot in the chest doesn’t? That’s just as sad as the original claim if you ask me.

Wasiq – please do not feed the Mullen facts. They are not part of its regular diet, and like with MoveOn.org, tend to cause indigestion and disrupt its world view.

This whole issue though, to me, is another one of those topsy-turvy political alignments. By that I mean those that you would normally expect to be supporting Bhutto seem to want her to go away, and those who usually would align against her are agitating for her against Musharraf.

All politics these days are nothing more than congregations of ethically challenged whores, on BOTH sides of the spectrum, with true statesman an endangered species.

On the other hand, what we call corruption in the West, is not always corruption in the ME culture’s eyes. I don’t know enough about the particulars to judge, but I would caution against rushing in blinded by what we don’t know or understand.

The Pakistanis don’t really have a good choice here, and the country is navigating a mine field.
I think we need to be cautious in deciphering all the forces at work in Pakistani politics.

Who are we to pass judgement a world away, filtered through our pundits and our “facts” when her own people seem to think otherwise? As for the corruption charges…certainly if they had serious validity, they could have tried her and her husband in absentia..but they remain only charges.

The bombing was horrific..and the only positive I can hope from it is that the Pakistani people will say “enough” and go for the extremist’s juglars.

Sari reference removed. I otherwise stand by my post. If Bhutto is the future of Pakistan then the present, by comparison, doesn’t look so bad.

Bhutto does not wear a Sari. She wears Kameez- Shalwar.

Shed was elected twice but was removed from power by military-negineered maneuvers on both occasions within two years of election. How is anyone supposed to change a country the size of pakistan within two years, while fighting off military intervention.

The corruption charges against Bhutto have never been proven though they were filed eleven years ago.

The real battle in Pakistan is between military dictatorship backed by the US and a democratic movement that bhutto has led since her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed by the military in 1979.

Bhutto may have flaws but if the US is beginning to recognize that, as Pakistan’s most popular leader, she is entitled to come back into the country to help keep the Taliban and Al-Qaeda at bay, that is not such a bad thing.

The perspective you seem to lack is that corruption charges made by a civil-military oligarchy that dominates poor countries like Pakistan are often an excuse to deny their people the right to choose their leaders.

The millions who marched in the streets for Bhutto, risking their lives, know the real battle and are willing to support Bhutto in it.