Benazir Bhutto Assassinated

[CountArach]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...28/2128035.htm

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a gun and bomb attack after a rally in the city of Rawalpindi, her party said.

"She has been martyred," party official Rehman Malik said.

Ms Bhutto, 54, died in hospital in Rawalpindi. Ary-One Television said she had been shot in the head.

Police said a suicide bomber fired shots at Ms Bhutto as she was leaving the rally venue in a park before blowing himself up.

"The man first fired at Bhutto's vehicle. She ducked and then he blew himself up," police officer Mohammad Shahid said.

Police said 16 people had been killed in the blast. Earlier, party officials said Ms Bhutto was safe.

A Reuters witness said he saw about eight bodies on a road.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said initial reports suggested it was a suicide bombing and more than 10 people had been killed.

A suicide bomber killed nearly 150 people in an attack on Ms Bhutto on October 18 as she paraded through the southern city of Karachi after returning home from eight years in self-imposed exile.

Earlier, gunmen opened fire on supporters of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, from an office of the party that supports President Pervez Musharraf, killing four Sharif supporters, police said.

Mr Sharif was several kilometres away from the shooting and was on his way to Rawalpindi after attending a rally.

Mr Sharif, who was overthrown by Mr Musharraf in a 1999 coup and allowed back into the country just last month after seven years in exile, blamed supporters of the pro-Musharraf party for the violence.

But a spokesman for the party denied that its workers were involved.

The shooting occurred near an office of the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Q).

"Somebody from inside the election office opened fire," senior police official Shahid Nadeem Baloch said.

"But I can't say they were Q [pro-Musharraf party] people. It's an election office and lots of people sit there during election time."

The United States has condemned the bombing attack in Pakistan that reportedly claimed the life of Ms Bhutto.

Deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey could not confirm that Ms Bhutto had been killed in the bombing.

"We obviously condemn the attack that shows that there are people out there who are trying to disrupt the building of democracy in Pakistan," he said.

Another step towards an even worse Dictatorship...

[Marshal Murat]

I think this is a turning point for a brighter future. With the popular support, and the correct turn of phrase, a couple show trials and all, Musharraf can destroy Taliban forces in the North-West province, unite the country, and bring peace to his country.

[discovery1]

Yeah, as strange as this may seem, this seems like it may actually be enough to rally the Pakistani public against extremists. I hope....

[Myrddraal]

Even when the extreemists are government supporters?

I'm not so sure.

[Marshal Murat]

Then the government needs to be handed over to more peaceful and responsible people.

[CountArach]

Then the government needs to be handed over to more peaceful and responsible people.

You do realise that their only real chance of that was just killed, don't you? There is now no chance of a Democracy and hence no chance of unity amongst the Pakistanis. Bhutto, in my mind, was the only person who could have led them away from the path they are now taking and hence the only one who could unite them against Muslim Fanaticism.

[Marshal Murat]

Which is why this event is so troubling to many Westerners (and Australians)

[Shahed]

Welcome to FRONTLINE: PAKISTAN!

[Papewaio]

Which is why this event is so troubling to many Westerners (and Australians)

Curious that Australians are not included within the definition of Western. Considering government institutions and history it is no more or less Western then Canada.

[econ21]

Very sad - she was a brave woman and that she follow her father in being killed for political reasons is tragic. I don't know about her track record as a Pakistani politician - I confess I have not followed the politics carefully - but whenever I heard her speak to the international media, she seemed to be humane, intelligent and sensible. Pakistan needs more such people, not less.

[Marshal Murat]

Curious that Australians are not included within the definition of Western

Well, I didn't want to seem too ignorant. Me being a humble American.

[Boyar Son]

You do realise that their only real chance of that was just killed, don't you? There is now no chance of a Democracy and hence no chance of unity amongst the Pakistanis. Bhutto, in my mind, was the only person who could have led them away from the path they are now taking and hence the only one who could unite them against Muslim Fanaticism.

If they become (or stay) an islam state...maybe we can befriend them so they dont attack us. Same goes for the rest of the mid-east.

[Shahed]

Tragic.

[Boyar Son]

Not possible mate.

How long, as I have been saying since forever here, will this be allowed to go on?

Form up and arm your weapons.

You cant win I say!!!!

to accomplish this we must exterminate every muslim that supports jihad/1 islamic state/ anti western and anti democracy!!

not possible with the 'rules' of war in todays society not to mention not plausible.

I think you will find them better as friends...

[Papewaio]

You do realise that their only real chance of that was just killed, don't you? There is now no chance of a Democracy and hence no chance of unity amongst the Pakistanis. Bhutto, in my mind, was the only person who could have led them away from the path they are now taking and hence the only one who could unite them against Muslim Fanaticism.

Democracy is like Invention we name the few who lead, but we tend to forget that many others are capable waiting in the wings. Bhutto dying is not going to kill democracy. Changing leaders by warfare or coups kills democracy. Any individual adult of mediocre talent can become a democratic leader, the beauty of democracy is if they spin too large and perform too little we vote them out and replace them with another mediocre talent. Sometimes we get worse ones, sometimes we get better ones. Democracy doesn't die based on an individual it lives and dies on a mindset that real lasting beneficial change can be made by voting not violence.

If we all just realised that politicians are a modern hydra that grows another head, we wouldn't place such a high value on individual politicians. The irony being that displacing this value would also stop them being valuable targets to be knocked off.

[Shahed]

Replying to Boyar

It's not possible for this to go without military reprisal.

You do not have to kill every Muslim because every Muslim has nothing to do with it.

The Pakistan Army has to really, with no UTTER BS, go INTO the BATTLE. There is no longer any excuse, the extremist elements within the military must be removed, the Army must engage the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban on all fronts. There must be decisive military victories if there is to be any hope of peace. There must be a dialogue, but what happened today is a GREAT victory for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. There has to be a military response.

The situation has been out of control for a long time. The developments in Pakistan will have global repurcussions.

What happened today is really a disaster. Pearl harbor dude. BIG screw up.

[Boyar Son]

Replying to Boyar

It's not possible for this to go without military reprisal. "
It is not possible to befriend an enemy which will not appreciate you unless you are in a position of strength.

You do not have to kill every Muslim because every Muslim has nothing to do with it.

The Pakistan Army has to really, with no UTTER BS, go INTO the BATTLE. There is no longer any excuse, the extremist elements within the military must be removed, the Army must engage the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban on all fronts. There must be decisive military victories if there is to be any hope of peace. There must be a dialogue, but what happened today is a GREAT victory for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. There has to be a military response.

The extremists elements occupy much of the ranks of the army. There will be mass desertion and pakistan can only recieve so much help from its allies (US).

The taliban does not work as a regular state army. You can only fight them for so long before there withdrawal and you'll need to train your soldiers to be successful in mountain campaigns.

Their leadership is mobile and are aware that spies and assassins might try to infiltrate.

I agree action SHOULD be taken, absulutaly with you there and the show no mercy even if they have a family (yes everyone your determination must be ABSOLUTE and must pass theirs) but we--

___ cannot do what the US did and attack blindly, nor let them use their experience to gain an advantage.

[Shahed]

I must learn to post just once, not post and edit and edit and edit...

No I don't think so. The so called elements in the army are not fools, nor are they true fundamentalists. Clever and cunning they are, they know what they are doing. The "elements" are not in the thousands, they are in the hundreds with a handful of top commanders. I very much doubt there will be mass desertion if the army TRULY mobilises to war footing and REALLY (no theatrics, no PR show) engages the enemy. It's very improbable they will desert in masses and droves. The average army troop does not want to kill natives on their own land, this is the major issue. Just send the US military and see what happens. Iraq will be a piece of cake compared to this. The point I'm making is that the army does not see them as invaders, this is the issue. It is an issue of propaganda, it's the responsibility of the army leadership to make sure the soldiers do the job they got hired to do: FIGHT!.

[Marshal Murat]

With her death, hopefully, will destroy any popular support for the Taliban. The insurgency is only successful if it has local support.

[Tribesman]

As to the event

SURPRISE


As to Cossacks posts....hmmmmmmmmslightly confuseled are thee...mightily confuseled indeed it appears


Now then Sinan , I find your posts on this wider topic both slightly enlightened and at the same time very disturbing...I think it is the "slightly" that makes them disturbing .

[Ice]

As to the event

SURPRISE

I'm assuming that's sarcasm.

If it is, I'd have to agree with you. This really doesn't come as surprise to me. It was more a question of when, than really "if".

[Tribesman]

I'm assuming that's sarcasm.

Come on she was lucky and got away with it the day before , no way she could get away with it in Rawalpindi...read through Sinan posts and work out why .

The question is , will this lead to another civil war in a nuclear armed country that is already fighting several civil wars amd wi;; this on top of the other civil wars in a nuclear armed dictatorship that is already fighting several neighbouring countries escalate into a bigger regional mess .

When the world biggest superpower gets its "favourite" dictator and its "favourite" a;ternative into a tangle and the tangl turns into a tussle what way does it jump when the tussle turns nasty ?

[Boyar Son]

As to the event

SURPRISE


As to Cossacks posts....hmmmmmmmmslightly confuseled are thee...mightily confuseled indeed it appears


Now then Sinan , I find your posts on this wider topic both slightly enlightened and at the same time very disturbing...I think it is the "slightly" that makes them disturbing .

Wuh?! how did you know it was ME!?

haha I seriously doubt that you _read_ my post and compared it with the 'enlightened' (no offence sinan)--> "charge and kill for glory"

seriously I thought you'd take my stance hehe what with the "lets think about how we're gonna do this"

But NO!! good one tribesman

[Shahed]

CHARGE !!! Dammit !!!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

joking!

[Slug For A Butt]

Hmm, not sure how this one is going to play out.
Undoubtedly Musharraf will be partying tonight behind closed doors, the people of Pakistan will be subjugated in the same way they have been over the last few months while the ahem... election was gearing up.
We are all assuming it's the fault of the only extremists on the sub-continent "Al-Qaeda", but remember that the powers that be had a vested interested in seeing her go too (maybe some sort of agreement would see her gone and the government's hands clean?).
In the meantime Musharraf will wring his hands in public, pay lip service to hunting terrorists and continue to be a puppet of the U.S. as long as the dollars keep rolling in.

[Lemur]

Some useful background:

Bin Laden has plotted against Bhutto since she first became prime minister of Pakistan. In the fall of 1989, in the lead up to a crunch no-confidence vote in Pakistan's parliament, Bin Laden, based then in Peshawar, tried to sway the outcome by sending money to Islamabad to buy votes. According to testimony in Peter Bergen's 2006 oral history The Osama bin Laden I know, Bhutto, on discovering Bin Laden's involvement, personally phoned up King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and demanded the Saudis rein him in. The Saudis called Bin Laden back for consultations and promptly confiscated his passport, cutting him off for a while from the al-Qaida organisation he had founded in Pakistan the year before. The episode presumably did not endear Bhutto to Bin Laden.

[Tribesman]

We are all assuming it's the fault of the only extremists on the sub-continent "Al-Qaeda",

Who is ?
there are so many factions in Pakistan .. .
The list of possible suspect organisations woud probably fill the word/post allowance .

[Vladimir]

You cant win I say!!!!

to accomplish this we must exterminate every muslim that supports jihad/1 islamic state/ anti western and anti democracy!!

not possible with the 'rules' of war in todays society not to mention not plausible.

I think you will find them better as friends...

It's not possible with the number of bullets in today's society. Guess what will happen when our "Muslim extermination reeducation campaign" is launched.

Do we have any word on who's responsible? I think Lemur is the only one to provide insight on that.

[Slug For A Butt]

Who is ?
there are so many factions in Pakistan .. .
The list of possible suspect organisations woud probably fill the word/post allowance .

You missed the sarcasm mate.
That was my point exactly.

[econ21]

Undoubtedly Musharraf will be partying tonight behind closed doors, the people of Pakistan will be subjugated in the same way they have been over the last few months while the ahem... election was gearing up.

I am not sure. There were stories about Bhutto and Musharraf potentially working out some kind of deal via the elections (e.g. her as PM, he as President) that would have led to a transition to democracy. Whether either side would have played ball and it could have worked, I don't know but it seemed a plausible way out of the current impasse. As it is, Musharraf looks very vulnerable and without much of a powerbase. I doubt he will be partying - especially as some of Bhutto's supporters are likely to blame him for failing to protect their leader or worse.