[Heineken]

More destabilization of greater Mideast region likely. link. I have a feeling Bush was behind her presence there. Since Musharaff had been increasingly straying from his wishes.

[Cid_Yama]

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide bombing that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, a party aide and a military official said.

"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack.

http://www.timesreporter.com/index.php?ID=77183&r=1

[PeakingAroundtheCorner]

Not good. She was beloved by half of Pakistanis and hated by the other half.

It's about to get very interesting over there. Nevermind the nukes.

[mekrob]

Oh shit. My popcorn's not ready.
...
Ok. I'm good now.

[idomar]

tinfoil hat on - check!

Iran and/or Afghanistan will be linked to the killing, it wasn't Musharaff, no way, no sir, wasn't him or his orders.

Civil war ensues first, threat of nukes leads to India to go to DEFCON 5 massive mobilisation of troops all over middle east.

oil price, bah! as long as i dont get too toasty, say 1,000,000 degrees i wont mind how much oil costs.

remove tinfoil hat, phew that hurt

[Zardoz]

She was very courageous to return and work to turn Pakistan around. She knew the danger she faced.

This is a terrible shame.

BBC story

[Bas]

shocking.... This doesn't look good on Musharraf, but it might well have been an extremist attack....

[shakespear1]

Can someone that REALLY understands Pakistani politics please explain why this leader returned. She was accused of corruption ( I'm sure they all are) and exiled for such a long time AND YET she managed to enter the country?

Who was behind her return? Whoever it is , is not as powerful as the people who did away with her.

Ominous signal for sure

[Slowpoke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bas', 's')hocking.... This doesn't look good on Musharraf, but it might well have been an extremist attack....

[Plantagenet]

CNN is carrying it live here in Athens.

May Allah have mercy on Ms. Bhutto's soul.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('shakespear1', 'C')an someone that REALLY understands Pakistani politics please explain why this leader returned.

[Pablo2079]

It has been reported that Al Qaida was behind this attack. I suppose anyone can call into a media outlet and claim that sort of thing though.....

[kokoda]

Who didn't see that coming?

I wonder if anyone will be claiming responsibility for this.

[Bas]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kokoda', 'W')ho didn't see that coming?

I wonder if anyone will be claiming responsibility for this.

[Heineken]

She certainly had courage, which is always admirable in its own right.

However, it must be pointed out that many Pakistanis loathed her. Her previous reign as prime minister was viewed by many as more of a harsh dictatorship.

To me it's obvious that Bush encouraged her to go there to take the reigns from Musharraf, or at least to weaken him. She had Bush's tacit backing and perhaps CIA backing.

That's what the US does to former chums that no longer dance to the prescribed tune. Either that or violently overthrow them or kill them.

[highlander]

Will Musharraf last a week? I think so. He gets on the news, says "I told you so" (regarding last weeks crackdown) and re-instated martial law. What the US wants is becoming irrelevant.

[virgincrude]

You could have seen it coming if you were in Pakistan, or were close to any Pak nationals: this was written on the wall (and she knew it) and although she felt Musharraf would authorise it, I believe it was planned all along by her main sponsors: Washington.

They urged Mush to declare the fake 'emergency' and drop the corruption charges against her so she could return without being arrested on the spot. The only barrier was the judiciary, and Mush took care of them with the arrest early in the year of the Chief Justice, who was undoubtedly going to declare Mush's bid for democratically elected power to be illegal.

Bhutto was more popular in the West than in Pakistan, besides her text-book Oxford English, she only spoke one of the 5 or so national dialects- totally out of touch with the masses, and the corruption charges would have been successfull, and she would have been thrown (quite rightly) in jail. Recently, in so called pre-election negotiations she was insisting the judiciary should not be reinstated before the elections, and a new judiciary should be named by the election winners. This would have ensured she be free from the threat of legal proceedings.

However, by dying, she has inadvertently become a major icon and people who may never have thought of voting for her party, will consider it now, purely as an act of vengeance against Mush, who is hated for his pandying to Washington. Whoever committed this disgusting act (why blow up so many people, was it not enough to assassinate her and turn the gun on himself?) is not important right now, it was however, easily predictable and it's hard to understand the motives behind Bhutto's return- except for her greed for money and power- things which go hand in hand in Pakistan.

It is unlikely the 8th Jan elections will go ahead now, as parties will need more time to recoup, something which works against the present ruling party, who need swift actions before people have time to ponder on this. The longer the delay, the less likely they will be re-elected. All over Pakistan, people will vote out their regional heads, all appointed by Mush, apparently people in Peshawar were so incensed when they heard of Bhutto's assassination, their anger frightened the police away- there is no stomach for civil war.

I am certain that if I (and Bhutto herself) could see this coming, then Washington also had a pretty clear idea of how things would pan out, and as the major sponsors for her return (they didn't give a shit about Sharif, who was the legitimately elected leader Mush kicked out remember, it was the Saudi's who chaperoned HIS return ....) they obviously were planning a destabilisation of the country by moving their pawns- Mush and Bhutto. Mush would not have wanted this, they are braying for his blood in the streets now, MUSH=DOG one of the worst insults in Islam. His days are numbered, he's either off to Washington for talks and a soothing cup of tea and exile offer, or his head's in the noose before cricket season.

[Twilight]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bas', 's')hocking.... This doesn't look good on Musharraf, but it might well have been an extremist attack....

[Plantagenet]

Al Qaida has claimed responsibility for the attack

Al Qaida claims responsibility

It has some hallmarks of an Al Qaida attack..... it was a suicide bomber, and there was a coordinated attack on two targets (another bomber targetted the other Pak opposition candidate at about the same time), and it the assassination clearly tends to destabilize Pakistan and any moves toward democracy, as well as removing the major woman democrat in Pakistan.

[Carlhole]

The Bhutto assassination will be very good for Rudy Guiliani, John McCain and Hillary Clinton and very bad for Barak Obama and Ron Paul.

Kind of neutral for others on either side of the aisle.

Anything like this tends to bolster neocon principles especially since Pakistan is a nuclear country.

So I don't think Ron Paul's idea of dismantling the military-industrial comlex is going to profit very much by this whole thing - especially with the primaries coming right up. The candidates will be talking more about Pakistan, The War on Terror and Al-Quaeda than they will about Abortion, Gay Marriage or National Health Care.