Benazir Bhutto assassinated

[Open palm]

If Sharif is being contacted by the Bush administration it's just political maneuvering for America's sake.

[Wise Son]

They don't blame al-Qa'ida. They blame Musharraf

Robert Fisk
3 January 2008 13:03
Weird, isn't it, how swiftly the narrative is laid down for us. Benazir Bhutto, the courageous leader of the Pakistan People's Party, is assassinated in Rawalpindi – attached to the very capital of Islamabad wherein ex-General Pervez Musharraf lives – and we are told by George Bush that her murderers were "extremists" and "terrorists". Well, you can't dispute that.

But the implication of the Bush comment was that Islamists were behind the assassination. It was the Taliban madmen again, the al-Qa'ida spider who struck at this lone and brave woman who had dared to call for democracy in her country.

Of course, given the childish coverage of this appalling tragedy – and however corrupt Ms Bhutto may have been, let us be under no illusions that this brave lady is indeed a true martyr – it's not surprising that the "good-versus-evil" donkey can be trotted out to explain the carnage in Rawalpindi.

...

So, of course, we were asked to concentrate once more on all those " extremists" and "terrorists", not on the logic of questioning which many Pakistanis were feeling their way through in the aftermath of Benazir's assassination.

It doesn't, after all, take much to comprehend that the hated elections looming over Musharraf would probably be postponed indefinitely if his principal political opponent happened to be liquidated before polling day.

So let's run through this logic in the way that Inspector Ian Blair might have done in his policeman's notebook before he became the top cop in London.

Question: Who forced Benazir Bhutto to stay in London and tried to prevent her return to Pakistan? Answer: General Musharraf.

Question: Who ordered the arrest of thousands of Benazir's supporters this month? Answer: General Musharraf.

Question: Who placed Benazir under temporary house arrest this month? Answer: General Musharraf.

Question: Who declared martial law this month? Answer General Musharraf.

Question: who killed Benazir Bhutto?

Er. Yes. Well quite.

You see the problem? Yesterday, our television warriors informed us the PPP members shouting that Musharraf was a "murderer" were complaining he had not provided sufficient security for Benazir. Wrong. They were shouting this because they believe he killed her.

There's more in the link, an interesting article.

[moor]

Wait,

the article derides the supposed link between AlQaida and Musharraf, then goes on to connect the dots between ISI and the Taliban?

Color me confused... If Musharraf wanted Bhutto dead, and he certainly HAD the resources to do so.. why wait until now?? 

And why such a botched attempt back in October - if that was, in fact, perpetrated by Musharaff supporters?

Isn't it possible that Musharaff saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone,here?  eliminate his greatest threat, and curry favor with a powerful ally at the same time?

I guess we've all got our conspiracy theories...   

[Open palm]

In such a hot political environment it's bound to happen. Some news say militants have denied involvement, but some reports say intercepted Al Qaeda calls indicate their involvement.

However, I find it strange that Al-Qaeda doesn't take credit for it but they'll take credit for attacks, like the recent bombing in Algeria.

In Addition: Jan. 4, 2008. Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for the shooting of a U.S. diplomat and his driver in Sudan.

Update: According to an Italian newspaper, an Al-Qaeda spokesman, Mustafa Abu al-Yezid, claimed the group's responsibility for the attack on Benazir Bhutto.

Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander in South Waziristan, denied involvement after the Pakistani government supplied an taped conversation with an unknown man on the day of Bhutto's death. The allegedly incriminating tape does not mention Benazir Bhutto however.

[Open palm]

O.K. This is pure speculation but it's still relevant.

There is a new rumour that Benazir Bhutto was killed because she said on a censored BBC interview that Osama Bin Laden is already long dead, killed by one Omar Sheikh (sp?). Now last year the C.I.A. disbanded a unit formed to search for Bin Laden's whereabouts. Recently, the Pakistani president said the Pakistani government forces were not seriously looking for him.

If Bhutto's claims are true, then does it have anything to do with her assassination?

[Wise Son]

Difficult to tell whether it was just a linguistic slip-up or a seriously startling revelation. I saw it mentioned because someone was talking about the person interviewing her when she said it (David Frost, I think? Not sure), and wondering why the hell they just ploughed on with their pre-planned questions and ignored what sounds like the biggest news since the invasion of Iraq.

[moor]

Any link to the interview?

[Wise Son]

Any link to the interview?

Try this.