Who Killed Benazir Bhutto…And What Next?
It is understandable that in the aftermath of the killing of Pakistan’s opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the needle of suspicion would swerve in several directions, including Islamic militants and the ruling Pakistani establishment led by President Pervez Musharraf himself. The US administration’s role in this tragic and barbaric episode would also come under the spotlight for a variety of reasons.
I am indeed impressed by the original coverage in the media and the blogosphere on the recent events in Pakistan. My guide is, of course, the Memeorandum for providing a variety of opinions and excellent reportage from the media and the blogs. Let me begin with the CNN story that says the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin Thursday citing an alleged claim of responsibility by al Qaeda for former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.
Memeorandum then quotes Firedoglake weblog: “In the face of suspicions about possible complicity by the Musharraf regime, and without knowing what happened, our FBI and DHS are giving unverified reports to US media in which al Qaeda takes responsibility. It may be true or false, but we have been conditioned to believe it…
” The Bush Administration did not kill Benazir Bhutto; someone else did that. But it appears the Administration convinced her to go back to Pakistan to save a risky policy foolishly built on a despised, repressive military dictator to fight the US ‘war on terror.’ Now a courageous woman is dead, another nation is in chaos, the US is further discredited, it can’t account for billions in military aid, and we still have an administration that remains a menace to everyone’s security as long as they remain in office. But the Administration wants us to believe that only al Qaeda is responsible.”
The Washington Post states: “With a vital stake in preserving the stability of a country that harbors both a nuclear arsenal and the top leaders of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the United States must urgently press Mr. Musharraf, Mr. Sharif, and other key Pakistani actors to take steps that will alleviate rather than further inflame the situation.
“Perhaps most urgent is the capture of those who committed the murder and a full and credible investigation. In the absence of such a clear accounting, conspiracy theories blaming Mr. Musharraf or the military for Ms. Bhutto’s death will probably proliferate, to the further benefit of the Islamists. ”
If we look at the history of assassination in the world, it is rare that the motive of killing is ever established or the real culprits identified. Even in the modern world the event is soon relegated from burning newspaper headlines and TV’s ‘breaking news’ to conspiracy theories in books.
Assassination is one of the oldest tools of power politics, dating back at least as far as recorded history. Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar can be noted as famous examples. Emperors of Rome often met their end in this way, as did many of the Shia Imams. The practice was also well-known in ancient China like Jing Ke’s failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang. The ancient Indian military advisor Chanakya wrote about assassinations in detail in his political treatise Arthashastra. More here…
Meanwhile the question is who would be Benazir Bhutto’s successor in the Pakistan People’s Party? According to the AFP report: “US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday telephoned the successor (Amin Fahim) to slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to express US support for Pakistan’s upcoming elections, a spokesman said.”
The Hindu reports: “With the assassination of its charismatic leader Benazir Bhutto, the PPP is in a quandary as to who would lead the country’s largest political party which has traditionally banked on her family. The names of Bhutto’s trusted aide Makhdoom Amin Fahim, her husband Asif Ali Zardari and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan as her successor are doing the rounds.
“Zardari wields considerable influence in the party but lacks popularity among the masses, mainly due to the charges of corruption that dogged him during Bhutto’s two terms as prime minister in the 1980s and 1990s. Fahim, on the other hand, is a low key leader and lacks the charisma of Bhutto, who was her party’s only star campaigner during the recent electioneering.
Party sources suggested that the PPP could look at other leaders like Ahsan, who is also the Supreme Court Bar Association President.”
To complicate matters further in Pakistan, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif announced Thursday his party was boycotting next month’s elections following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. He demanded that President Pervez Musharraf resign immediately. More here…
” ‘I demand that Musharraf should quit immediately,’ he said. ‘Musharraf is the cause of all the problems. The federation of Pakistan cannot remain intact in the presence of President Musharraf’.”
And, finally, Pakistan government reveals (or does not reveal) how Benazir was killed…Please click here for more… “Mystery shrouds the death of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto. In an explosive revelation, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz on Friday said that Bhutto did not die of bullet wounds. The doctors have submitted a report to the Pakistan government in which they say that no post-mortem was performed on Bhutto’s body and they had not received any instructions to perform one.”
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17 Responses to “Who Killed Benazir Bhutto…And What Next?”
Karl Rove sent Valerie Plame to kill Bhutto so Scooter Libby could be installed in her place and avoid further jail time without the need for a politically costly Bush pardon.
Didn’t you know? Didn’t Shaun tell you yet? heh
DLS – Bad snark to add to the debate. Maybe the Dutch lad or LGF will welcome you to there moderate blogs.
The Pakistanis now claim a skull fracture actually killed BB. But I thought a skull fracture is a slower death than bullet trauma. They actually claim she banged her head on the back of the sun roof. This is as absurd as claiming Kennedy died from whiplash.
What’s bad is to blame Bush in any way for this killing or worse, to invent all kinds of lies and other false accusations and direct them at those of us that correct such misbehavior.
I’ve read that, too, and don’t believe it any more than you do.
“The Bush Administration did not kill Benazir Bhutto; someone else did that. But it appears the Administration convinced her to go back to Pakistan to save a risky policy foolishly built on a despised, repressive military dictator to fight the US ‘war on terror.’ Now a courageous woman is dead, another nation is in chaos, the US is further discredited.”
Essentially the same thing I said the other day. This is indeed a tragedy. In an age where there is a dearth of courageous role models, Bhutto stood out.
DLS – Adolescent comments add nothing useful to the discussion.
[yawn] BDS comments are worse than any clever humor (not “adolescent comments” [sic]) in reponse to it. Issue closed.
Belief in accountability = BDS
Bush apologist syndrome = BAS
Confusion between the two = DLS
If Bush and Condo didn’t orchestrate her return, then you have BDS. But using her to prop up our boy Mushie did make them slightly complicit in her death. Maybe she could have campaigned with McClown from a market…
I am also highly skeptical of the Pakistani Government’s take on the situation, simply because it is so starkly in conflict with eye-witness accounts. This also raises questions about a possible role for the Pakistani Military or government in this matter.
And DLS, simply attributing contrary opinions to BDS is intellectually weak and pathetic. If you want to do that, just go over to “Blogs for Victory.” They excel in that crap and would gladly welcome a new Republican Line-tower.
And yet you make them on a daily basis.
Bhutto was her own person and didn’t need any pressure from Bush or anyone else to return to Pakistan and attempt to regain the Presidency. The idea that Bush/Condi “orchestrated” her return suggests she was some kind of easily manipulated buffoon. What a load of horse-pucky.
And skull fracture/brain trauma is not an unlikely cause of death and is, in fact, what kills some of our own soldiers in IED attacks, though not too often because they usually have helmets on. It’s the same reason getting thrown in a car crash is often fatal – the skull or even skin does not have to be broken to kill.
It is my understanding that most skull fractures take some time to kill. The IED’s and car crashes(very high KE transferred to skull) aren’t like BB’s SUV starting up ( low momentum and low KE) and her smacking her head. Dale Earhart died due to a HKE skull facture, most are just the results of a fall or blunt force LKE.
The Pakistanis IM explanation would be plausible if BB SUV was traveling 90MPH and stuck a wall. But LE blunt trauma isn’t usaully instantly fatal.
[...] MSNBC, CNN, CANOE, Reuters, The Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, Confederate Yankee, Washington Post, The Seminal, Firedoglake, Little Green Footballs, New York [...]
The Pakistanis IM explanation would be plausible if BB SUV was traveling 90MPH and stuck a wall.
Or if, say, a BOMB went off next to her as the car accelerated and as she was being yanked down into a metal edge. Massive head trauma does not take long to kill, and can easily be instantaneous. Smacking your skull into a hard edge hard enough to leave brain tissue crushed and exposed would do it.
A typical skull fracture doesn’t kill any more than a broken arm does–it’s the underlying brain injury (contra-coup hematoma) that kills. Don’t even need a fracture for that, just a shock to the head. But a depressed fracture that actually drives bone into the dura matter is a different story.
Tully – The Pakis IM is basically saying she struck her head during the assassination attempt and that is what killed her. Never mind about bullets or an explosion.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071228/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_investigation
Wanna bet the assassin was a military person.
[...] 3. Swaraaj Chauhan performs his own investigation into Bhutto’s assassin. [...]
No, that’s not exactly what they’re saying, Rudi. They’re saying that she struck her head on the sunroof edge and handle when the bomb went off, before she was completely back in the vehicle. Which is plausible. It might be a lie, of course, but it IS most certainly plausible.
The Pakistan government has also said they will exhume the body for autopsy if requested by Bhutto’s party, and that they skipped autopsy at the request of Bhutto’s husband. But all of the examining physicians agreed that it was major blunt-force head trauma with exposed brain tissue, that no bullet wounds were noted, and that X-rays showed no metal in her skull. If the head injury were a bullet wound, one would expect either an exit wound or bullet fragments on the X-ray. Even with an exit wound, one would expect some fragmentary show of lead in the skull.
You don’t get that big an impact from just yanking somoeone into a vehicle. But the whack of a bomb blast could sure do it.
Yes, such an injury as described could cause instant death–it would be more unusual if it did not, given direct brain injury as opposed to simple hematoma causing intra-cranial pressure. Yes, they could be lying. No, the story is not implausible. Yes, a full autopsy could clear it up.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was killed the death cell and hanged later.His son Murtaza was poisened in Paris.His other son Murtaza ws killed by the police in Karachi under supervision of the then IG who living next door from the place of murder.Who masterminded the return of Benazir Bhutto to Pakistan to eliminate him from local politics byMusharraf,Pervez Ilahi and Arbab,ex chief Mininter of sindh.