Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Home with a bang

  1. #1

    Default Home with a bang

    Given the many factions present in the area , the many groups who made public threats , the many groups that she said were a threat .... who was it that bombed bhutto ?

  2. #2
    Arena Senior Member Crazed Rabbit's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Between the Mountain and the Sound
    Posts
    11,074
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: Home with a bang

    I think it was the Alturians. Given the crap they've taken from the jingoist wing of the Naderii lately, it was inevitable, especially with Bhutto's rhetoric.

    CR
    Ja Mata, Tosa.

    The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storm may enter; the rain may enter; but the King of England cannot enter – all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement! - William Pitt the Elder

  3. #3
    Come to daddy Member Geoffrey S's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Shell Beach
    Posts
    4,028

    Default Re: Home with a bang

    How can anyone even hope govern that 'nation'...?
    "The facts of history cannot be purely objective, since they become facts of history only in virtue of the significance attached to them by the historian." E.H. Carr

  4. #4
    Iron Fist Senior Member Husar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    15,617

    Default Re: Home with a bang

    What is Bhutto and what are you talking about?

    Sounds rather African.


    "Topic is tired and needs a nap." - Tosa Inu

  5. #5
    The Usual Member Ice's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Northville, Michigan
    Posts
    4,259

    Default Re: Home with a bang

    Quote Originally Posted by Husar
    What is Bhutto and what are you talking about?

    Sounds rather African.
    psst, Husar

    http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapc...ons/index.html

    KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two explosions killed at least 124 people and injured at least 320 Thursday in a suicide bombing near a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who returned to the country earlier in the day after eight years of self-imposed exile, hospital and police sources told CNN.

    Bhutto and those with her were uninjured, and her companions said she reached her family home safely.

    Video footage showed her exiting the bullet- and blast-proof vehicle after the explosions. She apparently was inside it, rather than on the roof of the vehicle, at the time of the blasts.

    "I can see body parts strewn all over the road," said CNN's Dan Rivers, at the scene. "There are dead bodies everywhere. ... It is a large-scale attack, by the looks of things."

    There were conflicting reports on whether there were one or two blasts and whether the bomb was in a car.

    Authorities have found what they believe is the body of a suicide bomber, police told Rivers.

    "The truck that Benazir Bhutto was riding on was surrounded by police cars -- so the suicide bomber could not get onto the truck and could not get anywhere near it, so he blew himself up and that has caused many casualties, mostly among the policemen who were riding beside the truck," Tariq Azim Khan, Pakistani information minister, told CNN.

    Other officials said at least one bomb apparently had been placed in a car on the street, where Bhutto's supporters had gathered to see her convoy pass. One eyewitness told Rivers he saw a car explode with three people inside.

    Video footage from the scene showed the street jammed with emergency vehicles, and injured victims writhing in the middle of the road. At least one fire appeared to have been sparked by the blast. Video Watch people try to help the injured at the chaotic scene »

    Rivers and his crew were filming the motorcade just before the explosions.

    "We remarked on how lax security was around her," Rivers told Blitzer after the explosions. "We got within touching distance of her vehicle. There was no security around, nobody stopping vehicles getting close to [the motorcade]."
    Don't Miss

    The windshield of the vehicle in which Bhutto was riding was smashed by the blasts, Rivers said, and a vehicle following hers was totally burned out. The scene, he said, was "absolutely horrendous," with blood literally running in streams down the street.

    People's Party Leader Qasim Zia, who was riding on Bhutto's truck, told CNN one of his bodyguards was seriously injured. The injured included at least 20 leaders of the party, he said, and most of those killed were members of security forces or police who were surrounding Bhutto's truck at the time of the explosions.

    Zia said there were heightened security measures in place and without them Bhutto could have been injured or killed.

    Bhutto, 54, is a polarizing figure in Pakistan because some Muslims in the traditional Muslim nation object to a female leader and because of her pro-Western policies.

    The party considers the incident an assassination attempt against Bhutto, officials said.

    The bomb detonated as Bhutto's motorcade was nearing the tomb of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who led Pakistan to independence and championed equal rights for all Pakistani citizens regardless of their religion. Bhutto had planned to stop and pray at the tomb, then deliver a speech to her supporters.

    The blasts confirmed fears of instability linked to Bhutto's return, which came after she reached an agreement with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf allowing her to seek re-election as prime minister. Many were bitterly opposed to that deal.

    "This is what everyone feared," Rivers said.

    A senior U.S. State Department official in regular contact with Pakistani security forces told CNN that if such a convoy had been in the United States, security officials would have planned safe havens and alternate routes throughout the journey.

    However, he said, Pakistani security was unable to do so because of the sheer number of people who turned out.

    "We did try to provide the maximum security that was possible and, in fact, that's why the majority of the casualties are among the police and the security forces," Khan told CNN.

    Bhutto was provided with bullet-proof vehicles, he said, extra police vehicles and electronic jammers. But "with a very large crowd, obviously, there is no such thing as fool-proof security."

    Khan said officials warned Bhutto to delay her return to Pakistan after she made comments about Pakistan working with the United States against terrorism and the Taliban. Bhutto decided not to delay.

    "We had all suggested and advised Benazir Bhutto to delay her arrival because there were reports after her comments in Washington; there were reports here in the Pakistani press that some extremist elements were bent on hurting her, because she was seen as coming with an American agenda ... and she had been saying that she might allow Americans to operate from Pakistani soil," he said.

    "Those comments were not taken very kindly here, certainly not in the border areas bordering with Afghanistan. And they had issued threats to her life. And she was given friendly advice that she must delay her arrival. But, obviously, she did not pay any attention to that advice," said Khan.

    Bhutto told CNN just before returning to her homeland that she was aware of the risks and knew some people wished her harm, but "I'm prepared to take them."

    She did, however, tell CNN Wednesday that she wrote Musharraf a letter naming those she feared would make an attempt on her life.

    Threats against her, she said, were made by "certain people who have gained a lot through dictatorship. They have presided over the rise of extremism, they have created safe havens in the tribal areas of Pakistan for the Taliban and other militants and they fear my return."

    The United States was swift to condemn what it called "terrorist attacks in Karachi during peaceful political demonstrations."

    "There is no political cause that can justify the murder of innocent people," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in a written statement. "Those responsible seek only to foster fear and limit freedom. The United States stands with the people of Pakistan to eliminate terrorist threats, and to build a more open, democratic, and peaceful society."

    White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, "extremists will not be allowed to stop Pakistanis from selecting their representatives through an open and democratic process."

    Bhutto had vowed to help return democracy to Pakistan. She ended eight years of self-imposed exile and returned Thursday to her native country, where she was greeted by a massive crowd of supporters.

    "I am aware of the threats for my security, and this has been discussed with [President] General Pervez Musharraf," Bhutto told CNN's Syed Mohsin Naqvi Wednesday.
    advertisement

    United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also issued a statement condemning the bombing.

    The terrorist watch group IntelCenter said the death toll from the bombing places it among the top 10 deadliest terror attacks in the past



  6. #6

    Default Re: Home with a bang

    Soooo .....while directing her accusations at the military regime she is being careful not to direct them at the head of that regime .
    Given that there have also been accusations of ISI involvement in assasination attempts on Mussharraf is there anything that can be done to combat the military intelligence agency when it has power over the government , the army and numerous domestic and foriegn terror groups ?

  7. #7
    Part-Time Polemic Senior Member ICantSpellDawg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    U.S.
    Posts
    7,237

    Default Re: Home with a bang

    I believe in the inherent murderous corruption of the wealthy. Especially if they've been exiled for corruption in the past.

    I really wouldn't be surprised if she set it up, regardless of the loss in life. What is better for PR than a terrorist bombing? In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few of these types of attacks on people who have benefited were staged.
    Last edited by ICantSpellDawg; 10-20-2007 at 13:27.
    "That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there."
    -Eric "George Orwell" Blair

    "If the policy of the government, upon vital questions affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court...the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned the government into the hands of that eminent tribunal."
    (Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, 1861).
    ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

  8. #8
    Banned ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Castle 2_5_2, Swissland.
    Posts
    0
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default Re: Home with a bang

    Quote Originally Posted by Husar
    What is Bhutto and what are you talking about?

    Sounds rather African.

    reminds me of something I would eat......

  9. #9
    American since 2012 Senior Member AntiochusIII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Lalaland
    Posts
    3,125

    Default Re: Home with a bang

    Ouch. Just. Ouch.

    Pakistan isn't a pleasant place to be walking around in, that's for sure.

    Quote Originally Posted by TuffStuffMcGruff
    I really wouldn't be surprised if she set it up, regardless of the loss in life. What is better for PR than a terrorist bombing? In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few of these types of attacks on people who have benefited were staged.
    I prefer the KISS method myself. There's a lot of groups wanting her to be blown to bits, she doesn't really need to stage one just for the PR anyway. Besides, it could backfire, scaring away her supporters in fear of their lives instead of rallying them around her.

  10. #10
    Awaiting the Rapture Member rotorgun's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Not in Kansas anymore Toto....
    Posts
    971

    Default Re: Home with a bang

    I guess it all boils down to who, or what faction stands to gain the most from such an attack. The fundamentalists will never be satisfied with a woman in charge, while President Musharraf probably would not like to share power with someone so opposed to his dictatorship. I propose that the assasination attempt, if that is what it was meant to be, was a cooperative venture between both these factions. (It is my belief that Musharraf is double-dealing the United States in any case-playing both sides against the middle.)

    What a conumdrum-a true Gotterdamerung of Islamic making.
    Rotorgun
    ...the general must neither be so undecided that he entirely distrusts himself, nor so obstinate as not to think that anyone can have a better idea...for such a man...is bound to make many costly mistakes
    Onasander

    Editing my posts due to poor typing and grammer is a way of life.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Single Sign On provided by vBSSO