THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS: WHO KILLED BENAZIR BHUTTO AND WHAT WILL THE IMPACT OF HER ASSASSINATION BE?

Thursday December 27 2:34 PM EST: The murder of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan was a horrific event. The assassins had tried before and have now succeeded. Here we have one more dark day in the history of our world…breaking news, often presented with little context or background. As they say, “details are still coming in…

Benazir’s father has been hung after a military coup years ago and now his daughter, herself an ousted Prime Minister, has had her life snuffed out.

Having met her when we were at Harvard together in the late seventies I took a special interest in following her career, and know I am personally affected as I write of this vicious death by a shooter and suicide bomber.

There are demonstrations and rioting underway in several Pakistani cities.

She had expressed concerns about security as she left her home.l Baba Awan, her neighbor and lawyer traveled with her to her last rally. He told the BBC that she was alarmed that security was not provided. She was critical of the government for not providing communications systems and said that officers assigned to her had been withdrawn at various times.

When her motorcade was attacked after her return to the country in October, she asked for technical experts from overseas, from the FBI and Scotland Yard, to investigate. They were not provided.

Now the State Department is calling for a full and open investigation. Already the “crime scene” was hosed down as viewers of the BBC saw. (Earlier attacks on Musharaff were fully investigated very differently, her supporters contend.)

We don’t know yet who did it or why. In the conservative think tanks of Wshington, the blame falls predictably on unnamed political extremists

Yet among Bhutto’s supporters, the assumption was that Musharaff’s backers were involved somehow. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the crowd denounced “Musharaff’s dogs.” She herself earlier identified forces within the shadowy underworld of Pakistan’s ISI for “collusion” in that attack while at the same time lashing out at extremists.

This intelligence agency has worked closely with western intelligence agencies and the US and was credited with helping the CIA backed effort to eject the Russians from neighboring Afghanistan.

The ISI is also credited with helping to organize the Taliban and, was supporting the Taliban when the CIA and Northern Alliance ousted them. US war planes airlifted Pakistani advisors out of Afghanistan in the early days of the US military intervention.

Pakistan has been dominated by its military with US backing for decades. The “democracy” that President Bush and Britain’s Gordon Brown has never really been allowed to flourish. The elections that she was taking part of is likely to be cancelled. Already, one of her opponents, Nashaf Sharif, has said he will not take part in the elections.

There are several crises underway in Pakistan’s. Musharraf’s US backed leadership has been questioned and resisted. Hundreds of people have been “disappeared” by Pakistan’s security forces and have no hope in courts which have been dominated by interests supporting Musharaff. He has since blamed “terrorists” for the killing. He appealed for restraint. But mass rioting seems to have been the response.

There is much more to this story than has been reported so far….

THIS JUST IN: AL-QUEDA CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY

THE NEWS PAKISTANIS ARE READING

Here are some of the reports caried by DAWN, Pakistan’s English Language newspaper:

Pakistan’s Sharif says to boycott January election ISLAMABAD, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday his party would boycott a Jan. 8 general election because of the assassination of another opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto. “The PML (N) is boycotting the election after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto,” Sharif told a news conference in Islamabad. “Free elections are not possible in the presence of Musharraf,” he said. “Musharraf is the root cause of all problems.” Old rivals Bhutto, also a former prime minister, and Sharif had recently cooperated in their opposition to Musharraf. (Posted @ 00:04 PST)

Commonwealth says Bhutto death ”dark day for Pakistan” LONDON, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The Commonwealth, which suspended Pakistan over last month’s emergency rule declaration, said the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Thursday was a “dark day” for Pakistan. “This is a heinous and cowardly act of violence and an utterly senseless tragedy,” Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon said in a statement. “This is a dark day for Pakistan and the Commonwealth.” (Posted @ 23:56 PST)

Bhutto’s coffin leaves hospital to airport RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec 27 (AFP) - The body of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was taken from hospital Thursday night in preparation for a flight to her hometown of Larkana, an AFP reporter on the scene said. (Posted @ 23:54 PST)

Bangladesh condemns Bhutto killing as ‘unpardonable crime’ DHAKA, Dec 27 (AFP) - Bangladesh Thursday condemned the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as an “unpardonable crime” and a “barbaric act.” ”It is an unpardonable crime. It has shocked the world,” Fakhruddin Ahmed, head of the country’s military-backed emergency government, said in a statement. (Posted @ 23:50 PST)

Putin condemns ‘barbarous’ Bhutto assassination MOSCOW, Dec 27 (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the assassination Thursday of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as a “barbarous act of terrorism”. (Posted @ 23:44 PST)

Fazal condoles Benazir’s death LAHORE, Dec 27 (APP): Chief of Jamiatul Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan and Secretary General MMA, Maulana Fazalur Rehman in his reaction over the death of Benazir Bhuttoo said “it is a great tragedy and will have impact on the politics of the country for long time to come.” (Posted @ 23:42 PST)

AFGHAN REACTION

December 27, 2007–(RFE/RL)–The death of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in an apparent suicide attack outside the capital, Islamabad, has shaken the country’s political landscape and underscored the threat that politically motivated violence poses in Pakistan and the region.

The 54-year-old Bhutto returned from eight years of exile in October following a deal to drop corruption charges stemming from a previous stint as prime minister, and had announced her candidacy for Pakistan’s upcoming parliamentary elections.

The attack, after an outdoor rally in Rawalpindi, killed at least 16 other people and left her popular Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in disarray ahead of the January voting.

But Bhutto’s absence will also be felt outside Pakistan’s borders, given South and Central Asia’s political history and the threat that extremists pose to stability.

RFE/RL Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Ayaz Khan says the charismatic Bhutto “was not only a liberal Pakistani politician but also a symbol of liberal politics in a region that’s been increasingly haunted by extremism, terrorism, and fundamentalism.”

He also says Bhutto’s tough stance against militants echoed a prevalent view in Kabul that regards terrorist threats in both Pakistan and Afghanistan as inextricably linked.

Ayaz Khan notes that “just hours before her death she met with [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai to reiterate her support for the fight against extremism and terrorism that has afflicted the region and, more recently, the Pakistani government, the Pakistani street, and the Pakistani people.”

The first of Bhutto’s two terms as prime minister (1988-90 and 1993-96) came at a time when Pakistani intelligence was actively backing Islamic fundamentalists fighting to end the Soviet army’s occupation of Afghanistan. Some of those fighters went on to form the Taliban movement that eventually provided an Afghan safe haven for Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

Since her return to Pakistan nearly three months ago, the Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent says, Bhutto had “vowed to rid the country of the extremists responsible for the violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” a position that made her a potentially valuable ally from Kabul’s point of view.

Karzai Condemns ‘Immense Brutality’

Her potential for helping to overcome tensions between Islamabad and Kabul was widely recognized. President Karzai had met with Bhutto just hours before she was killed. Karzai told a hastily arranged press briefing in Kabul after news of the killing that the perpetrators were “enemies” of Pakistan and of peace. “We in Afghanistan condemn this act of cowardice and immense brutality in the strongest possible terms,” Radio Free Afghanistan quoted Karzai as saying.

Correspondent Ayaz Khan says Bhutto’s shared view of the common terrorist threat — along with her public statements of “wholehearted support for the internationally backed peace process in Afghanistan and what NATO and international forces had done” — made her a possible uniter in dealings between Islamabad and Kabul, a position that he says ultimately “made her a prime target for terrorists.”

Speaking to Radio Free Afghanistan hours after the assassination, Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta said Bhutto “was so hopeful of winning the coming election, [and] of establishing a friendly relationship based on brotherhood with the Afghan nation and fighting against the common threat of terrorism.”

Bhutto had received numerous death threats from Islamic militants. On the night of her return to Pakistan, as she paraded through the southern city of Karachi on October 18, a suicide bomber struck near her vehicle, killing 139 people. Bhutto was unhurt, but the dead included at least 50 of her security guards, who had formed a human chain around her vehicle to protect her.

At a news conference the following day, Bhutto said she would continue campaigning. She accused the authorities of failing to provide adequate security.

AN EARLIER REPORT

‘US forces to train troops’

WASHINGTON, Dec 26: The United States is sending its Special Forces to Pakistan early next year to train Pakistani troops and support the country’s efforts to fight terrorists, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday….

MORE DETAIL–COULD ESCALATION OF WAR BE A BACKDROP TO THE ASSASSINATION?

US to expand presence in Pakistan

OUR MONITORING DESK

EARLY next year, US special forces are expected to vastly expand their presence
in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous
counter-insurgency forces and clandestine counter-terrorism units, according to
American defence officials involved with the planning, reports Washington
Post.
These Pakistan-centric operations will mark a shift for the US military and for
US-Pakistan relations. In the aftermath of Sept 11, the US used Pakistani bases
to stage movements into Afghanistan. Yet once the US deposed the Taliban
government and established its main operating base at Bagram, north of Kabul,
US forces left Pakistan almost entirely. Since then, Pakistan has restricted US
involvement in cross-border military operations as well as paramilitary
operations on its soil.
But the Pentagon has been frustrated by the inability of Pakistani forces to
control the borders or the frontier area. And Pakistan’s political instability
has heightened US concern about extremists there.
According to Pentagon sources, reaching a different agreement with Pakistan
became a priority for the new head of the US Special Operations Command, Adm
Eric T Olson.
Olson visited Pakistan in August, November and again this month, meeting with
President Pervez Musharraf, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Tariq
Majid and Lt Gen Muhammad Masood Aslam, commander of the military and
paramilitary troops in northwest Pakistan. Olson also visited the headquarters
of the Frontier Corps, a separate paramilitary force recruited from Pakistan’s
border tribes.

Now, a new agreement, reported when it was still being negotiated last month,
has been finalised. And the first US personnel could be on the ground in
Pakistan by early in the new year, according to Pentagon sources.
US Central Command Commander Adm William Fallon alluded to the agreement and
spoke approvingly of Pakistan’s recent counter-terrorism efforts in a recent
interview.

“What we’ve seen in the last several months is more of a willingness to use
their regular army units,” along the Afghan border, Fallon said. “And this is
where, I think, we can help a lot from the US in providing the kind of
training, assistance and mentoring based on our experience with insurgencies
recently and with the terrorist problem in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think we
share a lot with them, and we’ll look forward to doing

WASHINGTON POST: Could Bhutto’s Death Help Giuliani?

The assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was only
minutes old and details remained sketchy when former New York City Mayor Rudy
Giuliani’s presidential campaign issued a condemnation of terrorism writ large.

“Her death is a reminder that terrorism anywhere — whether in New York, London,
Tel-Aviv or Rawalpindi — is an enemy of freedom,” said Giuliani. ” We must
redouble our efforts to win the Terrorists’ War on Us.”

That it was the first statement that arrived in The Fix email inbox is not
surprising as his campaign strategy is closely linked to many voters’ belief
that the world is a dangerous place and that Giuliani is the candidate best
equipped to deal with threats to this country.

Bhutto’s assassination could well work to Giuliani’s benefit because it may
enable him to thrust himself back into the daily political conversation after
steadily losing ground in the presidential campaign for weeks, while Sen. John
McCain (R-Ariz.) has come on strong. With his decision to all but skip Iowa and
play only at the margins in the New Hampshire primary, Giuliani has watched as
the campaign in its final stages has largely passed him by.

But, with the Bhutto’s death and the broader implications of the fight against
terrorism worldwide likely to dominate the coverage for the next day or two (at
a minimum), Giuliani immediately becomes relevant again

ONE FOOTNOTE ON CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

As I reported on the day Before XMAS, contrary to the upbeat reports on TV,the Christmas shopping season was a dud. Heavily discounted items sold as did luxury goods but overall it was “disappointing” to retailers…..This is is not a good omen for the economy.

Your comments welcome. Stay tuned for more Mediachannel coverage on all these issues

Written while nominally on vacation.

Comments to: Dissector@mediachannel.org