It was extremely upsetting to me to learn that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan as she was leading the party in opposition to Pervez Musharraf. Was she killed for that reason? Because she stood against terrorists? Because she stood for democracy and was a secular leader who spoke out against religious extremists?
Musharraf and George Bush, of course, quickly labeled this the work of al Qaeda or other terrorists unconnected to Musharraf's people. Maybe... I do not know who did it and perhaps we never will know. Suicide bombers are almost always religious extremists-- who else is willing to blow themselves up to gain someone else's goals-- but the assassin had to have been recruited by someone. The question is who stood to gain the most from her death?
To me, killing someone like Bhutto is not just murder. It's worse than that. To her family it was the loss of a mother and wife, but to her country, it was a robbery of political options. To the world, it's one more example of the price one pays for speaking out. Those who do such things want to destroy the democratic process.
Her death brings back so many memories for people my age. John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Malcom X, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, and the list goes on. To some people, if they disagree with a leader, they aren't sorry to see them killed, but whenever or however political leaders are assassinated, it is a horrible act and one we should all condemn as forcefully as possible.
Pakistan is a grave concern to the world given its nuclear weapons, that it harbors terrorists, and that one of their scientists enabled North Korea to gain nuclear secrets (and was pardoned for doing it). Most recently the Pakistani terrorist, who is why we can't carry toothpaste aboard a plane, escaped their custody and nobody apparently knows how. Pakistan is a country where billions have gone since 9/11 and nobody has had to account for where they went. An ally? Even if it is, and I think that is debatable, Pakistan is unstable at the least. Will this make the situation worse?
Bhutto was a courageous woman, as obviously she knew what she was facing. I just hope that her death will somehow bring positive results for that part of the world. It would be a shame if she was martyred for nothing, or worse that it damaged the cause for which she was fighting-- democracy for her people. I can't think of any examples of where assassination brought positive results though; so don't have much hope this one will.
9 comments:
I hope many more speak out against assasination. It is difficult to make lemonaid out of such loss. It does put a spot light on the Musharraf administration as containing extreemists. And yet our president blames terrorists. I get my information from Oregon Public Broadcasting.
I wrote a brief note on the assassination this morning in my blog. It is a sad day for democracy in the world. Ms. Bhutto was anti-terrorist and would have been a better friend to the US and her party was leading in the polls.
Pakistan was only a little better than Afghanistan and the Taliban in 2001. But Musharraf decided it was better to accept money and support from the US than go to war with us.
I wanted to write something about this, but could only come up with the sad reality that the sun never sets on a single day that has not seen blood shed in war and rage. This assassination does not bode well for the world. An unstable nation with nuclear bombs is a scary proposition. A tragedy in all ways.
I saw this piece on Daily Kos and consider it worth reading as it explores what might come next with Pakistan. Not reassuring though..
I can't help but feel her being killed has just opened a pandora's box for the rest of the world. I truly cannot recall a time in my lifetime where I felt the entire world was in such a precarious situation, like I do now.
Very scary.
Terri
http://www.islandwriter.net
Ms Butto was killed because there are people in this world with warped ideas and agendas who could not allow her to live. She was dead from the moment she returned to Pakistan. It just took time for the act to occur,
She said she was not being properly protected by the government. My husband read that there was only one exit from where she had been speaking, sounds like security was light. Was that purposeful? There are fanatics in this country also who would kill our leaders. What keeps them safe is not us being immune to having those kind of people, who would hurt all of us for their own agenda, but our protection system. If Pakistan had wanted to protect her, perhaps she'd still be alive, but too many wanted her dead. She did know her risks; but she had something she believed in strongly and was willing to take them. It was a lot more courage than our leaders who still face that risk but with a lot better wall around them. In my eyes, assassination is a bad solution but it's been going on from the beginning.
I was devastated, too, Rain, although I realized how little I actually knew about her. Al Qaeda has taken credit, but it's hard to believe that Musharraf wasn't at least indirectly involved. These are very scary times. I was surprised to hear that her 19-year-old son and her husband are now the leaders of her party. I heard the son speak on NPR and he sounded very mature, but 19 is 19, unless you are the Dalai Lama. My grandson Anthony is 19. Yikes!
Actually, it's Pakistan that claims it was al Qaeda or some warlord but nobody has claimed it who has credibility. The son will stay on at Oxford which means her husband will be the actual representative until the son is old enough-- also keeps him somewhat safer during these turbulent times. I read that the Pakistan government hosed off the street almost immediately afterward; so nobody could investigate anything. Most likely it was part of their military who didn't like the direction she might take the country. She received inadequate protection and our country didn't insist she have it. There are some around the world who are probably glad she's dead even if they didn't do it. It's a terrible time, and the astrology in We'Moon seems to be indicating January might be worse with Pluto moving into Capricorn which also happened in the time of our Revolutionary War. It will be retrograde in the summer, and into fall; then go direct again and stay there for like 16 years. We'Moon seems to be full of a lot of interesting info. Last year, after reading about it in your blog, I tried to order one through Amazon (where prices are very good for it) but it was too late. This year I got one for my daughter and daughter-in-law also
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