A day later, shock and fear still seem to rule in Pakistan in the aftermath of the killing of Benezir Bhutto. We do know, confirmed again today in the Washinhgton Post that the US government brokered her return. Were there any discussions of security arrangements? We don’t know. Could this predictable killing have been prevented?

UPDATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON: MORE THEORIES

OSAMA DID IT: The Pakistan Government says it has evidence,including a telephone intercept, that proves that Al Qaeda killed Bhutto, or at least claimed too.

SHE DID IT HERSELF: There were also suggestions that she died because she put her head through her car’s sunroof, or alternately hit her head on the sunroof

Bill Bowles sends along this report from London challenging the view that she was a great Democratic force:

Who Killed Benazir Bhutto? By Murtaza Shibli

Friday Morning News: —AP reported: “Bhutto buried as Pakistan unrest spreads

Hundreds of thousands of mourners, weeping and chanting for justice, thronged the mausoleum of Pakistan’s most famous political dynasty in a raw outpouring of grief for Benazir Bhutto. The government blamed al-Qaida and the Taliban for the assassination of the opposition leader, who was buried alongside her father.

Furious supporters, many of them blaming President Pervez Musharraf’s government for the shooting and bombing attack on the former prime minister, rampaged through several cities in violence that left at least 23 dead less than two weeks before crucial elections.

Some wept, others chanted “Benazir is alive,” as the plain wood coffin was placed beside the grave of her father in the vast, white marble mausoleum in southern Sindh province near the Bhuttos’ ancestral home.

TRUTH OUT WRAPUP:

Obituary: Benazir Bhutto, 54, Weathered Political Storms

John F. Burns, of The New York Times, offers an obituary for Benazir Bhutto. Rory McCarthy, of The Guardian UK, gives a broad list of suspects in the killing. Laura Rozen, of Mother Jones, interviews a former US intelligence official on the Bhutto assassination.

Here are some other views and responses from a variety of sources. I am not at Dissector Central and have limited connectivity, but here are some comments of interest.

Jayne Stahl on OpEdNews: WE ARE COMPLICIT!

Whether one thought of Bhutto as a Western shill, or a populist folk hero, her barbaric murder can only send shocks up and down the spine of even the most Machiavellian as it is an egregiously politically expedient move, especially in light of Pakistani elections which are less than two weeks away.

Not coincidentally, President Pervez Musharraf’s only other rival, Nawaz Sharif’s return to Islamabad quickly interrupted, in September, by money laundering charges. Musharraf has figured out the most effective way to end a state of emergency—kill off one’s opponents, or drive them back into exile.

Ultimately, it is you and I, the American taxpayer, who have Benazir Bhutto’s blood on our hands as we have been financing that thug Musharraf whose handiwork is all over this assassination. Among the many insidious legacies of this administration will be the instability, and carnage that will result from a foreign policy that reeks of greed, irreverence for human life. and plodding irrelevance.

It’s time to give marching orders to the same thugs who have held Washington, D.C. in a state of emergency since 9/11, send Pervez Musharraf packing, and Mr. Bush with him.
 
In mid-August, I wrote an eerily timely blog which is reposted below, “Who’s Packing in Pakistan,” where the $11 billion of U.S. aid, which this administration euphemistically calls “wasted,” has largely ended up.

Not only does Congress need to investigate the wanton, and criminal destruction of interrogation videotapes, back in 2005, in defiance of a court order, but now, more than ever, there needs to be a thorough, independent examination into where $11 billion of our money went, and who, here in the States, is also profiting from this dictator who boasts of being in bed with the Taliban, and whose fingerprints are all over this morning’s attack on former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto

Who killed Benazir Bhutto? The main suspects:

The main suspects in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination are the Pakistani and foreign Islamist militants who saw her as a heretic and an American stooge and had repeatedly threatened to kill her.

Barbara Crossette writes in the Nation and on Alternet:

Nineteen years ago at the end of December, Benazir Bhutto, fresh from her first, exhilarating election victory and newly sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, met Rajiv Gandhi, the youthful prime minister of India, for talks in Islamabad. She was 35, he was 44. There was obvious good will, almost intimacy, between them. The air was full of promise and hope that these two modernizing scions of dominant political families would turn decades of war and hostility between their nations into a new era of peace.

Three and a half years later, Gandhi was assassinated. There had been no breakthrough with Pakistan to bolster his legacy. Now Bhutto is dead, at another moment of renewed anticipation. An age of hope is over.

The Al Jazeera English wrap-up of responses

Supporters and rivals alike of Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani opposition leader, have condemned the gun and bomb attack that claimed her life at an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi.

Bhutto, who became the first female prime minister of a Muslim nation when she was first elected the prime minister in 1988, died from her wounds in hospital in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

She became the prime minister for a second time in 1993.

Rehman Malik, an official with Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, announced Bhutto’s death to supporters: “She has been martyred.”

Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a suicide attack. What is next for Pakistan?

Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistani opposition leader, vowed to continue Bhutto’s work after the assassination and said he shared the grief of “the entire nation”.

Speaking outside the hospital where Bhutto died he said: “I assure you that I will fight your war from now on,” he told Bhutto’s supporters. “I share your sorrow and grief along with the entire nation.”

“Benazir Bhutto was also my sister, and I will be with you to take the revenge for her death,” he said.

Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, appealed on state television for the nation to remain peaceful “so that the evil designs of terrorists can be defeated”.

International reaction

George Bush, the US president, said: “The US strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are are trying to undermine Pakistan’s democracy.”

“We stand with the people of Pakistan in that struggle against the forces of terror and extremism. We urge them to honour Benazir Bhutto’s memory by continuing with a democratic process.”

Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary general, said: “I strongly condemn this heinous crime and call for the perpetrators to be brought to justice as soon as possible.”

Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, said:”I was deeply shocked and horrified to hear of the heinous assassination. In her death, the subcontinent has lost an outstanding leader who worked for democracy and reconciliation in her country.”

“In targeting Benazir Bhutto extremist groups have in their sights all those committed to democratic processes in Pakistan. They cannot and must not succeed”

David Miliband,
British foreign secretary

“I am deeply shocked by news of the latest attack in Rawalpindi which has claimed the life of Benazir Bhutto and killed at least 15 other people … All those committed to a stable future for Pakistan will condemn without qualification all violence perpetrated against innocent people.

“In targeting Benazir Bhutto extremist groups have in their sights all those committed to democratic processes in Pakistan. They cannot and must not succeed.”

Qin Gang, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, said China was “shocked at the killing of Pakistan’s opposition leader Benazir Bhutto” and that strongly condemns the terrorist attack,” Xinhua news agency said.

Romano Prodi, the Italian prime minister, said : “I express my sadness and that of the whole [Italian] government following the tragic death of Benazir Bhutto, a woman who wanted to fight her battle until the end with just one weapon - that of dialogue and political discussion.”

The Vatican called the assassination “terrible and tragic.”

“This attack shows how extremely difficult it is to pacify a nation so wrought by violence,” Father Frederico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman said. “We share the sadness of the Pakistani population.”

Analysts’ comment

Ameen Jan, a London-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera: “Removing Benazir Bhutto from the political scene, there would be many beneficiaries of that … Having said that it would be difficult to imagine that the perpetrators behind such a violent attack, leading to her death, would be one of the political parties.”

“There are a whole set of actors outside of the mainstream political parties which are the various extremist groups, and it would seem more than likely that there would be some elements within those groups that would have an interest in destabilising the political system,” he said.

“It’s a great shock for the nation and its a great set back to the democratic forces and to politics in Pakistan”

General Talat Masood,
military analyst

General Talat Masood, a military analyst in Islamabad, speaking to Al Jazeera, said: “It’s a great shock for the nation and its a great set back to the democratic forces and to politics in Pakistan. Her party [the PPP] was one of those that was spearheading the political process … and this party was very leader-centric. They really adored and loved her despite all her weaknesses … neither the militants nor those in power ever like a person of her calibre.”

“You could see the crowds she was drawing and the likelihood of her party doing extremely well, that was there. But it also shows that when the US intervenes it always has a negative fallout on countries.”

Jennifer Harbison, head of the Asia Desk at Control Risks in London, said: “I think this is anticipated. It is well within what we expected might happen … It does cast a shadow over the election and it raises some concerns over how the government might deal with any popular reaction to this.”

Khaled Rahmen, director general of the Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad, told Al Jazeera: “It’s a very sad incident … and such a big incident would definitely impact the elections. There are apprehensions that this might result in some kind of postponement. If that happens … its going to create more instability.”

Max King, London-based investment strategist with Investec Asset Management, said: “This is an absolute disaster for Pakistan. Pakistan is clearly turning into one of the failed states in Asia.”

We will continue our coverage. I had hope to literally bury my head in the sand during this break but that was not to be.

Comments welcome. Share your feelings and fears. I also am hoping you will strengthen your support for Mediachannel.org for the year ahead.

On, into the abyss:

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