Benazir Bhutto Killed Today in Pakistan

Now, more than ever, we need for cooler heads to prevail.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/kim-pearson )|Professor Kim ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com )|

before any of the current candidates will be doing anything about Pakistan. If things escalate there and the nuclear word starts getting thrown around, what's the guy we have in charge right now going to do? That's the thing I'm worried about.

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

I was shocked when I heard the news, more so because I was hoping it wouldn't happen. I am not surprised, though. Pakistanis, including Bhutto, were aware of this possibility. She has been attacked before and such threats are for real.

Bhutto was "perceived" as the only major political leader capable of challenging despotic rule and introducing democracy. She had the numbers, the stature. And she has made known her intentions of establishing democracy louder now than ever before.
Knowing a bit about politics in the sub-continent, I wouldn't dare say she would be tremendously successful in curbing Pakistan's immediate challenge of radicalism, but she was their strongest hope for a return to democracy. Indeed, she too wouldn't have a choice but to stick to a clean democracy, what with the entire world watching.
Well, naturally, she had to go. Sigh :(

Snigdha

I wondered how much Romney knew about Bhutto or Pakistan when I listened to his statement. It was so general -- "this loss of life" -- and so boilerplate. As crucial as Pakistan is to global security, it would be a disservice if the analysis and commentary on this tragic development ignored the historical and political context in which the conflict in Pakistan is unfolding. This event underscores the importance of electing a President who is sure-footed on foreign policy, and who can go beyond the superficial rhetoric of the War on Terror.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/kim-pearson )|Professor Kim ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com )|

I'm with you Lisa - I'd like to see how they respond. So far I've seen Clinton's and Obama's preambles to stump speeches which told me little beyond democracy is good and they grieve for the children and supporters. I've heard an interview with Giuliani and seen parts of his statement. I've seen a snippet of Romney's statement (at least I hope it was a snippet and not the majority of it) and both to me could be summed up as "this shows we need more military action against the Islamic fascist terrorists."

The only candidate so far who has impressed me by demonstrating a nuanced understanding of the situation and the potential next steps is Chris Dodd. It's early still so I am hopeful.

On a related note, Zbigniew Brzezinski who has endorsed and advises Obama has also impressed me with his commentary so I count it as a vote for judgment vs. experience. I don't believe anyone has the experience to be president until they are president and all presidents rely on advisers and apply their judgment to that advice so I think who the candidates choose to advise them is as important as their experience.

Kleenex® Let It Out™ Blog ( http://www.kleenex.com/blog.aspx )
Beyond Help ( http://mariax.vox.com/ )

I was visiting Dubai the week she left after an eight year exile to go back to Pakistan knowing her life was at great risk. She was quoted saying she had hoped to work towards civilian rule in Pakistan, but didn't know how she could work with Gen. Musharraf's government, as "it is very difficult to work with a dictator."

I am very saddened this brave woman has been killed attempting to help heal her country.

Jody DeVere
President
www.askpatty.com ( http://www.askpatty.com )
www.carblabber.com ( http://www.carblabber.com )

Tragic. My favorite Bhutto quote:

"You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea."
Bhutto, Benazir Prime minister of Pakistan (1953–2007)

Source: Learning to Give ( http://www.learningtogive.org/search/quotes/Displa... )

Thanks Laina for this breaking news. Agreed Morra -- I'm a rank beginner when it comes to Pakistani politics and don't fully appreciate Bhutto's legacy. I'd love to hear from some readers who do.

That said, I would like to see how American presidential candidates respond to her assassination. I'd like to see the kind of states(wo)manlike behavior from a few people who want my vote to lead U.S. policy in the Middle East. Here's a great blog reaction round-up from The Times ( http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/a... )

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

Bhutto had her demons, but it seems she was the best hope for a somewhat democratic rule in Pakistan.

Now it's left to the military dictatorship of Musharraf to fight it out with Islamist forces, from Talkingpointsmemo's piece ( http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004984.php ):

The most likely culprit is the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda. But it's not exactly an event met with tears by the Pakistani military, which thoroughly controls the government and the economy. After the summer's turbulence with Islamic radicals and Pervez Musharraf's subsequent declaration of martial law -- designed to crack down not on Islamist militants but the remnants of Pakistan's democratic opposition -- the U.S. prevailed upon Musharraf to ally with Bhutto in the interest of broadening Musharraf's base of support. But the event that would consummate the alliance, next month's election, represented a threat to continued military rule. "The military didn't really want civilian politicians in power," says New York University's Barnett Rubin, a South Asia expert. "They wanted to use them to legitimate indirect [military] rule, and they were going to do it by rigging the election."

U.S. strategy didn't exactly find that so offensive. "The idea was to consolidate the alliance of the so-called moderate forces in the Pakistani military through this election that the military was going to rig but we were going to certify anyway," Rubin observes. That is, as long as Bhutto was in the picture -- since the U.S. had reduced the democratic opposition to the figure of Benazir Bhutto, although her corruption as PM was manifest. Without Bhutto, it is unclear what the U.S. will do.