Bhutto dead in Rawalpindi

[piercehawkeye45]

I agree with Radar, I am certain Musharraf was behind it.

Musharraf wants to keep power, we might (prediction) see more of Pakistan in the future with relations to India. Both are militarizing fast.

[Griff]

Very bad situation indeed.

[Aliantha]

Most likely it'll descend into civil war and then the west will decide to choose sides.

[piercehawkeye45]

Actually, I don't know who did it. The media is going crazy about it because Bhutto was pro-western and they are blaming Al Qaeda but don't have the evidence to support it.

If the country gets back together, I doubt the ruler will be pro-Western, which complicates things with the nuke issue. If they don't get together, which is another good possibility, that region will be very interesting to watch.

[Pie]

A sniper attack would have been more Musharraf's style. A suicide bomber? That's religious extremism.

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by Pie

A sniper attack would have been more Musharraf's style. A suicide bomber? That's religious extremism.

The suicide bomb was just to scatter the useful evidence, in the unlikely event that anyone who both cared and was qualified to evaluate same happened to start poking around.

[classicman]

not if you don't want people to know you did it. I think the actual perps were fed the info and everything else they needed to get this done by him.

[Radar]

It was something like this....

Terrorist: Mr. Musharraf, I'm for free elections in Pakistan <wink wink>, so if I wanted to go to a rally in support of Benazir Bhutto, where should I go?

Musharraf: That's classified information and I can't divulge that without risking her safety. <cough...Rawalpindi...<cough>

[Aliantha]

AQ have claimed responsibility.

[piercehawkeye45]

Musharraf is at fault as well. He promised protection but it wasn't there.

The decision to postpone elections will be interesting. There is no one else besides Musharraf at this point so he will probably win if they are not postponed and I don't think that will help the situation at all. But a new leader could shake things up just as much and the US will get involved if a very anti-western leader pops up, which is very likely from what I've heard.

[xoxoxoBruce]

It's to the radical Islamics advantage to maintain the status quo.

As long as the people of Pakistan are brutally oppressed by police, that are in fact the armies of fuedal landlords, the only option is to turn to Al Q for justice, just as the immigrants turned to the Godfathers, in major US cities. This is one way the radicals are winning over the moderates.

Another way is the lack of an effective education system. The dysfunctional public schools are being replaced with thousands of Madrassa (religious schools) teaching radical islamic politics.

[busterb]

I admired her very much, despite all claims of malfeasance and politically augmented money grabbing.

Well her husband and kids were where? When this went down. Not out riding donkeys?

[xoxoxoBruce]

If they were, nobody would vote for her. The country is full of people with those qualifications. She graduated from Radcliffe (Harvard) and certainly didn't have to go to Pakistan and put her ass on the line, to make a living.

[Elspode]

She knew she was putting her life on the line. She fucking *knew* it. Who among us has balls that big?

She was martyred in the truest sense of the word. I hope to fuck that her elevation to such a woefully exalted status bites the asses of the fucks that did her in - hard, fast, and permanent.

[Radar]

Originally Posted by Elspode

She knew she was putting her life on the line. She fucking *knew* it. Who among us has balls that big?

She was martyred in the truest sense of the word. I hope to fuck that her elevation to such a woefully exalted status bites the asses of the fucks that did her in - hard, fast, and permanent.

You are correct. She knew it for a certainty. They had already tried when she first came back and they killed over 170 people. She knew it would happen, and she told people if it did, Musharraf would be behind it.

I have had people threaten me before on the internet and say they were going to kill me or gut me. I dared them to come to my house and posted my home address. As I suspected, they were all talk.

But in her case, she knew it was real. I don't think I'd be as gutsy as she was. She really loved her country and whether or not you agree with her politics, she stood up to a dictator and did what she thought was best for her people even though she knew it would most likely cost her life.

She's a hero in my book. I only hope the outrage for this gets the people to overthrow Musharraf's military controlled government. That's a scary thought considering nukes are involved, but I'd trust the Bhutto loving moderates of Pakistan more than I trust Musharraf.