The Assassination of Benazir Bhutto
By Keith Boykin, in politics
Thursday, December 27 2007, 10:44AM
The world has been on edge for months as it watches the elections in the U.S., Russia and Pakistan, three very different nuclear powers. This morning in Pakistan, the election campaign took a dramatic turn as former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the first female political leader of a modern Muslim nation, was assassinated at a campaign rally.
Pakistan has been an ally to the United States in the war on terror, but some suspect that the Pakistani government has not done enough to rein in Al Qaeda. Bhutto, a Harvard-educated leader, emerged from exile earlier this year and returned to her native Pakistan to run in elections that have been repeatedly scheduled and re-scheduled. Her death as a martyr will surely put pressure on Pakistan's President Pervez Musharaff to step down from power very soon.
Bhutto was a remarkable woman, dominating the political scene for three decades, even in her absence. She was well-known in the U.S. and frequently appeared on American television. Most recently, she was interviewed live on CNN in Washington a few days before her return to Pakistan. She told Wolf Blitzer that she was well aware of the potential risks of returning to her homeland.
Pakistan is a major linchpin in U.S. Middle East policy, and Bhutto's assassination will require the U.S to use skillful diplomacy to help move the country toward a peaceful future. The country is a potential tinderbox that could explode at any moment. While the U.S. remains bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, a major conflict in Pakistan could further destabilize the entire region.
Now more than ever, the people of Pakistan deserve real democratic leadership. The era of military regimes and violence as a political device must come to an end. And now more than ever, the world needs strong leadership from the international community and the United States.
Comments conceal
Dennis
December 27 2007, 11:33AM
Pakistan is a major linchpin in U.S. Middle East policy, and Bhutto's assassination will require the U.S to use skillful diplomacy to help move the country toward a peaceful future.
Skillful diplomacy? By Bush and Condi? So they're screwed then.
Floridaboy8703
December 27 2007, 11:47AM
Yeah global security is at stake. While everyones attention is on Iraq and Iran. Pakistan is the true issue. And that country is going south FAST. Bush and Condi dont care bout those issues tho. Does Pakistan have a lot of oil?
mrkyon
December 27 2007, 1:37PM
Not a alot of oil Flordiaboy but what Pakistan does have is nuclear power, weapons, and a very large and politically powerful Islamic Funadmentalist movement in addition to a Taliban insurgency which is gaining ground daily. Pakistan does deserv democracy that I agree with but if it is going to happen it is going to require US, Indian, and I beleive European diplomatic help and aid to have that realization.
We should have of course never dealt with Musharaf in the first place. Why does this country never learn that you do not work with dictators, they are only out for themselves their own people and the rest of the world be damned. You'd have thought we'd learned that lesson from our pet monster Saddam or the last Iranian Shah or Mobutu. I guess we still haven't.
George Vreeland Hill
December 27 2007, 3:17PM
The people who did this are cowards!
They are filthy terrorists, and like all terrorists, they will never change the world.
I spit in their faces and laugh at their weak acts.
Allah will send them to Hell for killing in his name.
Allah says do not kill.
Yet terrorists still kill.
They must laugh at Allah.
Bin Laden, Atta, and other like cowards based their lives on lies.
What a waste.
Long live America!
Long live Israel!
Long live the memory of Benazir Bhutto!
No terrorist can stop us!
I am,
George Vreeland Hill
Nyah Molineaux
December 27 2007, 3:35PM
It is always the good leaders that always have to die early. God bless her and her family.
Karmatic
December 27 2007, 5:24PM
America needs to mind it's damn business!
This unfortunate tragedy is just yet another rejection of American culture and democratic rule..Why is it so hard for some to understand the "Tradition" that exists in the middle east? Are we just that convinced that our way of life is SO GREAT, or is it the gotdamn oil that makes us give a damn?
Luther
December 27 2007, 5:29PM
A shame, and, a sad day for her and her family and her country, and, more of the misplaced foreign policy of this administration. They have propped up another crook for their own purposes with no regard to the people of Pakistan, and, poured millions of dollars into this nuclear power, and, when Bhutto came back and, called out Mushariff,same one hiding bin Laden mind you, next thing, you know she is dead, not too hard to figure who is behind it and, why, and, the lame condolences of Bush and Connie, when they knew it was going to happen,
Looks like the USA has picked another despot to get behind, and, now, the whole region is a powder keg,
Way to go Bush and Connie, NOT.
RIP Mrs Bhutto.
cmoney
December 27 2007, 7:05PM
It is a shame that this talented woman was put down by terrorists. BUT, you have to remember she was an American puppet that was about to take power. While we may view her as being wonderful for her Harvard education and Westernized views, others see her as a sellout to their own culture. She was allowed to return to Pakistan after the U.S. pressured Musharraf to allow her to return to the country without fear of prosecution for criminal charges of corruption (basically, she was pardoned). Our media called it "self imposed exile". Actually, she was a fugitive from justice. We really need to stop meddling in other countries. Nothing but death results. Again, I think it was terrible that she was assasinated--but I understand.
jas
December 27 2007, 7:25PM
she was not assassinated becuase of the alligations of corruption - this had nothing to do with that. she was killed:
1. Because she vowed to fight the rise of religious extremism in pakistan;
2. Becuase she was a loved and popular political figure and might actually have made a difference, and
3. Because she was a woman leader, something not popular with islamist extremists.
my aunt lives in karachi. extremism in the country has been on the rise, especially after the wars in afghanistan and iraq and the instability this has brought to the region. it has also given anti-Western fundamentalists some good arguments used to gain support among people with no or little access to critical information.
the US needs to be careful about how to approach this - Musharaff (who is not democratically elected) is already seen as a puppet for the States, which is why he is disliked by a great number of people. elections will probably be postponed, and i dont think this will bring him any closer to stepping down
M
December 27 2007, 8:04PM
Oh god. This is very sad and troubling. May she rest in peace. Who can represent and galvanize non-extremist and more true democratic elements than she?
I think it was already too late for the US to talk her into returning, especially with no change in Iraq policy or practice on the ground, the deadline of which had long passed in preventing the surge of extremism in the region.
Bhutto is a casualty of the failed WJClinton/DCheney/GWBush/HRClinton/NPelosi policies from beginning to (we hope) a swift end.
Middle East extremists are hiding behind the US presence and actions in Iraq. Western extremists are hiding behind the ME extremists presence and actions. Something's got to end this cycle. It's going to have to take some major truth-telling and behavior changing all around. Anything short of this will continue the spiral.
MH Dolan
December 27 2007, 10:20PM
Individuals are complex and multi-faceted. As with virtually anyone, it's just naive to paint Ms. Bhutto as either a "good guy" or a "bad guy."
HOWEVER, she did represent real hope for change in a place desperately in need of it. Yes, she and other family members faced corruption charges. Yes, they did what many famous political families with dynastic ambitions do.
But she was also dedicated to reform, improving the status of women, and playing the Big Powers against each other while keeping her country relatively independent.
She avoided war with India, take-over by fundies, dictation from the US, too much influence by China, etc.
She well knew the risks for her personal safety when she returned to Pakistan from her self-imposed western exile.
CNN International showed a chilling clip from an October interview. Asked about this very topic, she stated that she did not feel threatened--"The Koran forbids the killing of women. Anyone who kills me will go to Hell."
Brave front; but unfortunately,unheeded
Captain
December 27 2007, 10:28PM
She's dead. What else can we do?
Bernie
December 28 2007, 1:22AM
The Koran forbids the killing of women ... do the terrorists who have killed scores of women know this? Cmoney hit it right on the target ...I do not know why we as Americans think we can change the idealogies of people that been rooted in tradition for thousands of years.
edvince
December 28 2007, 5:16PM
An enigma is gone! The Muslim's world first woman leader. May she rest in peace!
Honut Sinti
December 29 2007, 10:52AM
Very sad, indeed. Deepest sympahy to prime minister Bhutto's family. Now anoter ring of hate has been added to the ever growing tree of discontent. There will never be peace among these various groups. Hate, distrust, and terror go back thousands of years, continue to this day and will likely continue into the future perpetuated by each generation domestically and abroad.
Ron Lee
January 1 2008, 7:35PM
Well, sympathies to the Bhuttos. One should not forget that Pakistan,Isreal and other nations which were subugated and created by the post WW2 united nations was under the british control. How come they're not trying to destroy britain.
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