Bhutto moments before her death...

Via New York Times:

The Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, just seconds before she was assassinated leaving an election rally near the capital, Islamabad, on Thursday.

Photo: John Moore/Getty Images

There are at times some very brave people who believe their mission in life is so important that they put themselves in immediate danger. Do you think any of her security people could have kept her inside the armored car? No, I don't think so.

Ms. Bhutto's marriage to Asif Ali Zardari in 1987 was arranged by her mother, a fact that Ms. Bhutto has often said was easily explained, even for a modern, highly educated Pakistani woman. To be acceptable to the Pakistani public as a politician, she could not be a single woman, and what was the difference, she asked, between such a marriage and computer dating?

Photo: Zafar Ahmed/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images

theteach

Bhutto Assassinated

Via BBC:

Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated in a suicide attack.

Ms Bhutto had just addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi when she was shot in the neck by a gunman who then reportedly set off a bomb.

She was the hope of many in Pakistan for new, democratic rule. See my posts in this blog:

Bhutto to Return to Pakistan

Bhutto Convoy Bombs Kills Dozens

Is West Behind Musharraf's Move?"

Her Obituary

theteach

Is the West behind Musharraf's Move?

Via Christian Science Monitor:

Pakistan crackdown widens as Musharraf insists emergency rule needed to fight terrorism

Police suppress lawyers' protests, shut down press, as reports suggest over 1,500 opposition activists have been detained.

By Dan Murphy
from the November 6, 2007 edition

Cairo - Since suspending his country's Constitution over the weekend, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has moved quickly to arrest opposition activists and control the press, nudging the country closer to a full-fledged dictatorship.

The Associated Press reports that 1,500 activists have been arrested since the president gave himself sweeping powers on Saturday, in a move that analysts said appeared designed to preempt a Supreme Court ruling that could have prevented him from being reelected president.

While stopping short of a complete condemnation, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged President Musharraf to quickly restore the rule of law to Pakistan, Reuters reports. Both the US and Britain have urged the country to hold elections scheduled for January.

In its Nov. 4 issue, The Dawn, Pakistan's largest English-language newspaper, carried a roundup of those detained in a front page article, which includes opposition political party heads and a former director of the ISI, Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency.

In neighbor and frequent rival India, The Times of India called Musharraf's act over the weekend a "coup" and chided the US for having backed his initial seizure of power in 1999, arguing that military rulers are not the answer to Islamist violence.

According to The Times of India:

British, European and other Western capitals underlined their acute embarrassment at General Musharraf's "second coup" on Monday by renewing only a weak and vacillating criticism of the authoritarian crackdown and offering no firm promises the aid pipeline to Pakistan will be cut.

It is being rumored that the West, the US and Britain, have actually sanctioned the declared state of emergency.

I tend to believe that Bush et al. are in favor of Musharraf's actions because they want him to stay in power in Pakistan because they need him to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan whether he's a dictator or a democratic ruler.

My friend AnimeFreak40K made me aware of an article from which I take this quote from Benazir Bhutto:

I have long claimed that the rise of extremism and militancy in Pakistan could not happen without support from elements within the current administration. My return to my country poses a threat to the forces of extremism that have thrived under a dictatorship. They want to stop the restoration of democracy at any price. They have exploited a poor, desperate, and powerless people and allowed extremists the right environment in which to flourish.

Ms. Bhutto wants to share governance of Pakistan with Musharraf.

theteach

Monday's Headline

November 5, 2007

Violence in Pakistan. Condoleeza Rice exhorts Musharraf to restore peace. Pervez Musharraf consolidated his seizure of total power yesterday as police arrested hundreds of political and military activists. ...

Scroll down for Manic Monday

Sunday Headline:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The state of emergency [martial law] declared in Pakistan will be imposed for "as long as it is necessary," Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters Sunday, a day after President Pervez Musharraf's declaration.

theteach

Bhutto convoy bombs kill dozens

Via BBC News:

At least 58 people have been killed and 100 wounded after two bombs hit crowds greeting returning Pakistani ex-PM Benazir Bhutto.

Ms Bhutto was being driven in a convoy through crowded streets from Karachi airport to a rally to mark her homecoming after eight years in exile.

Ms Bhutto was not among the casualties and has been driven to safety.

Hundreds of thousands of people had turned out to greet the former PM, amid a huge security presence.

Several Islamist groups including pro-Taleban militants have made threats against Ms Bhutto.

theteach

Bhutto to Return to Pakistan?

Via BBC:

Bhutto announces Pakistan return

Pakistan's former PM Benazir Bhutto will return from self-imposed exile on 18 October, she has told the BBC.

Ms Bhutto said she felt confident that the people of Pakistan would "rally around me" because they wanted democracy restored.

She faces possible corruption charges on her return to Pakistan.

Ms Bhutto, who leads the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), has been trying unsuccessfully to reach a power-sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf.

She says he cannot be both president and head of the army.

Ms Bhutto wants to reestablish democracy in Pakistan which is now a military republic under Musharraf.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says it is not yet clear whether she will return as the general's opponent or his main political support.

Via Timesoline:

President Musharraf once told Mrs Bhutto that she would be arrested if she returned to Pakistan – it now looks as if charges against her, and the efforts to track down the estimated $1.5bn she and her husband received in commissions and kickbacks, may be dropped in return for her political support.

theteach

Obama speaks his mind

I'd like to know why our politicians can't state what they believe and not get into hot water for it. Obama DID NOT say he would agree to NUCLEAR strikes on Pakistan or on Al-Qaida in Pakistan's tribal zones. Read below the article from the Guardian.
________________________

Via Guardian

In a major policy speech Wednesday, Obama said as president he might order strikes in Pakistan's tribal zone to get terrorists, including those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

``There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again,'' Obama said. ``If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will.''

Well today Pakistani officials called Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama irresponsible for saying that, if elected, he might order unilateral military strikes in Pakistan against al-Qaida.

Hundreds chanted anti-U.S. slogans and burned an American flag in the street to protest the remark.

Obama's comment turned up the heat on already simmering anger among Pakistanis about the issue, after senior Bush administration officials said last week they too would consider such strikes if intelligence warranted them.

Read here what Obama actually said.