[seldom_seen]

I don't mean to be flippant about the whole affair, but isn't this how "business" gets done in Pakistan?

They have a long history of political assassinations. It seems that not a week goes by where someone or something isn't blown up, shot down, cut off or detonated in Pakistan. Their economy has an explosive dynamism!

I'm calling this one a yawner.

[The_Virginian]

link to huge picture

{put huge picture in link - Bas}

[Zardoz]

Utterly innappropriate and uncalled for, Virginian.

The mods will nuke it, of course, but what the hell did you post it for?

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', 'U')tterly innappropriate and uncalled for, Virginian.

The mods will nuke it, of course, but what the hell did you post it for?

[virgincrude]

Zardoz, the 'very good article' in Newsweek must be 'very good' because it says stuff you didn't know, not because it says stuff the way it actually is.

Satjeet; lots of people confuse an ability to speak well with intelligence.

All of you have been totally brainwashed regarding the created Al Qaida and you've been convinced of its capabilities, organisation and motives. Al Qaida is not comparable to a guerrilla unit, it is an ideology, not a trained and organised unit. Bhutto, like every other political and public figure in Pakistan, had made LOTS of enemies from different sectors of society. The drive for vengeance thinks not of 'who benefits'.

The best way to get insight into events over there is not to read thy WPo, Newsweek, NYT or watch CNN. Go find the Pak daily press on-line, lots of it published in English.

Trying to invent a 'bigger picture' by jumping to conclusions about 'who benefits' is a sign of a small mind with a little bit of information. The Reuters page of quotes and reactions regarding her assassination sums up the entire Western world's fake preoccupation with 'democracy'. Practically none of them acknowledged they were referring to the violent death of a human being, all were concerned with market reactions: "Oh, she got killed? Wow, I guess my stocks are gonna go up ..." What an indictment of society and humanity

And as for the misguided woman creating a web page in hommage to Benazzir Bhutto, calling this a real tragedy for the democratic world is like calling G.W Bush a wise man. What's your hommage to the legitimately elected head of the state, Nawaz Sharif? who was the bona fide President before Mush ordered him out, while sitting in his helicopter? Your reaction shows how well Washington has used the media to dress up a corrupt and criminal EX-Leader, presenting her as the true hope for Pakistan, never mind what Pakistani's themselves think, never mind that since her, there was a legitimately elected leader who has been side lined because of his support for a nuclear Pakistan.

I'm not a Sharif supporter, he has almost as many corruption charges hanging over him and he is more closely allied with fundamentalist Islamic interests. But just the fact that Americans are more willing to support a deposed, disgraced, foreign educated politician instead of the country's own, ousted, democratically elected leader, is classic American hypocrisy and the ultimate reason why you are viewed with suspicion around the world.

[Carlhole]

In the conspiracy genre, Al-Quaeda is often referred to as a "created" entity - created by the CIA.

But that's simplistic. Radical Islam started as a the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt with the disintegration of the Ottoman empire after WW I when Egypt was still a British protectorate 1928). And with further Western involvement as the result of World War II, , the creation of Israel and the mess in Palestine, the toppling of Mossadegh in Iran and the subsequent rebellion against the Shah followed by the reign of the Ayatollahs there, the incredible wealth generated by enormous petroleum deposits in the Middle East and the "special relationship" between Saudi Arabia and the US (including the petro-dollar system) - all these things have served to bolster Islamic Militancy as a counter to Western interference and involvement in the Middle East.

The phenomenon of Radical Islamism was actually co-opted by the Western interests (CIA) back in the 80's to use against the Soviets in Afghanistan, even though Islamic militants are enemies of the West. And ever since the US has begun to USE Islamic Militancy as a "hide" in a larger chess game of regional and energy geo-politics, the importance and cache of Radical Islam has soared.

A loose organization such as Al-Quaeda or Radical Islam or the Muslim Brotherhood or whatever you want to call it, is a bonanza of opportunity for intelligence agencies. It is not difficult for sophisticated operations to infiltrate and influence a social phenomenon like Radical Islam - as long as you realize the blowback is always a possibility. If you can engineer events and manipulate people within Radical Islam, you can accomplish political, social and regional objectives through it.

Back a few years ago, did the Bush Administration actually believe that it could combat Radical Islam with conventional military forces? Of course not! If you really wanted to combat Islamic Militants, you would use cooperating police forces, intelligence forces and paramilitary forces to strangle their operations. Instead, the Bush Administration USED the phenomenon of Al-Quaeda and Radical Islam as an excuse to accomplish their objective of injecting conventional military forces into Iraq.

Iraq is the last huge cheap oil province on the planet. It was certainly worth all the bother of suffering a little "blowback" or a little sacrifice.

To bring up a famous example, it would have been great if the US government's investigating agencies had determined the truth behind several well-documented international news reports that Mohammed Atta had received a $100,000 wire transfer from Pakistan's ISI shortly before 911. It would have been great if investigating agencies had looked into why Pakistan's Chief Spy General Mahmoud Ahmad, the alleged "money-man" behind the 9-11 hijackers, was at a breakfast meeting on Capitol Hill hosted by Senator Bob Graham and Rep. Porter Goss, the chairmen of the Senate and House Intelligence committees.

But the hottest topic in the world, who funded 911, soon disappeared as if it had never existed. The news about the Pakistani ISI involvement escaped the light of the media, and with the idea that the funding was linked to Osama Bin Laden firmly planted into the mind of the public, the push for war in Afghanistan began. Years later, the 911 Commission Report even said, "who funded the attacks is of little practical significance."

So what's this have to do with Benazir Bhutto's assassination?

It means that a lot of people see an event like this now and wonder, "Is it a real event or a staged event with a purpose behind it?"

And it's not possible to know. But it's interesting to watch the effect that the assassination has on US politics. And it's interesting to sit up and pay attention to what happens next in Pakistan and how this effects the current US situation in Iraq.

[Andrew_S]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Virginian', '
'){put huge picture in link - Bas}

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', 'U')tterly innappropriate and uncalled for, Virginian.

The mods will nuke it, of course, but what the hell did you post it for?

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('virgincrude', 'Z')ardoz, the 'very good article' in Newsweek must be 'very good' because it says stuff you didn't know, not because it says stuff the way it actually is.

All of you have been totally brainwashed regarding the created Al Qaida and you've been convinced of its capabilities, organisation and motives. Al Qaida is not comparable to a guerrilla unit, it is an ideology, not a trained and organised unit.

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'T')his is the sort of scene the corporate media don't let us see, at least not without plenty of photo-editing wizardry.

[virgincrude]

Carlhole, I agree with you. In this instance I was referring to the US media 'creation' of Al Qaida.

Zardoz, you're right too, but the blame for practically every attack and every succesfull strategy against the US or its interests is now commonly placed by the media (including Al Jazeera, by the way, this is not just a Western corporate media habit) on Al Qaida.

Whether or not there exists a 'cell', or whether or not the media arm of the organisation claims responsibility is irrelevant. The media have created Al Qaeda as an entity. It is the media's favourite boogey man, and has become an escape from having to delve into deeper reasons behind attacks all around the world.

This attitude convinces the general public to be scared. To be very scared, of a brainless, incomprehensible, fluid and constantly changing enemy. Which in turn gives those in charge all the excuses they need, and all the justification they need, to launch preemptive strikes wherever they've 'detected' Al Qaeda.

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('virgincrude', 'T')he media have created Al Qaeda as an entity. It is the media's favourite boogey man, and has become an escape from having to delve into deeper reasons behind attacks all around the world.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', '
')The western media will never spend much time explaining why very conservative Muslims hate western culture so much

[Twilight]

It's not al Qaeda that's responsible, it's some local nutcases who need a vacuum to step into. In the frontier areas there is practically a branch in every town. The reality is less exciting than an international conspiracy, but that never stops the media.

I can't believe the mediocrity and corruption are being glossed over too. Journalism treats the dead not so much with respect as with deference.

[threadbear]

Geo-political tragi-comedy, where major political figure gets killed in one of a series of punchlines, after devoting herself to the paradox of "enforcing democracy" by suppressing another paradox--the democratic support evident in the grass roots support of a totalitarian theocracy. You couldn't make this stuff up.

[threadbear]

Along with all of the riddle, jokes, paradigm twists and turns, paradoxes, in Pakistan and throughout the Muslim world, we have the ultimate stand up routine...the juxtaposition of the explicit Western point of view with the more implicit and subtle realms of a much older, much different society. The reality of the situation is then extruded through the sales arm of Madison avenue, seeking a brand....Al Queda, for presentation to the West.

If this wasn't enough, we have the brand and veil of "democracy" being used to create the ultimate oxymoron; the weak strong man. Strong enough to control his people, but weak enough to be a pliable puppet for Western concerns.

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', '.')..You couldn't make this stuff up.

[billp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')nd it's just getting more and more insane.

[billp]

Maybe you have screwed with

wrong cats?

[billp]

Bas
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'y')ou could have seen it coming if you were aware of the inadequate security surrounding her public rallies.