Jezebel
Exiled Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide bombing today. She wasn't killed by the bombing itself, of course, she was killed by a bullet wound to the neck. Not leaving anything to chance, these Bhutto- haters! You'll recall that Bhutto had returned to Pakistan two months back after making arrangements with President Pervez Musharraf. She'd been exiled from the country after finding herself embroiled in embezzlement scandals and eventually being indicted for money-laundering in Switzerland ("Points out Jezebel resident South Asia policy expert Josh Foust of Registan.net, "That only happens if you're REALLY dirty") but her absence — and according to Bhutto herself, her growing waistline — had made the Pakistani hearts grow fonder for their onetime leader, as Musharraf's alliance with the United States against terrorism made him increasingly unpopular with the country's religious poors, and thereby increasingly unpopular with the country's civil liberties advocates, and eventually increasingly unpopular with the whole entire country.
So, was Musharraf, who'd just grudgingly conceded to share power with Bhutto and give up his army leadership position, behind the hit? That's what conspiracy theorists inside my kitchen seem to believe. But then you've gotta wonder how he did it. Did Mr. Enemy of Terrorism Musharraf contract out a suicide bomber from Al Qaeda Inc.? Or does the Pakistani Army have a top-secret suicide unit, and if so, what do you have to do to get yourself enlisted in that? Josh Foust, of Registan.net and "That's So Jane's!" columns of yore says the theory doesn't make sense. "She works much better as an opponent than as a martyr" for Musharraf, he claims. CNN seems to be focused on the question of what happens next: will they invoke military rule? (Isn't that what you would do?)
Comments
From what I've heard, they're not sure if she's dead or not. Either way, this is really fucking bad.
Also, they're not sure if the bullet wounsd are from a shooting or from the bomb's shrapnel.
@leMaldeTete: wounds, of course. I am agitated.
@TruculentandUnreliable: Well if the Associated Press says it's true, then thats almost the same as the mouth of god right?
Completely not surprising in the least.
I'm speechless. I just saw this and tears are streaming down my face.
I read her most recent interview with Newsweek where she mentioned no less than 3 TIMES that she was worried the opposition would kill her.
......
Well, I'm fucking sad.
Yipes. I saw it hear first and wanted to believe it was some kind of sick prank, should have known the Jezzies wouldn't have steered me wrong. I remember being fascinated by Bhutto and Indira Gandhi as a kid, without really understanding their politics, obviously. I just thought it was so great that these women were leading countries where women traditionally did not have strong roles.
Incidentally, and coincidentally, Bhutto was a Jeopardy! clue last night.
@SinisterRouge: No it's not, sadly. It was really only a matter of time. I think she knew that, too, which makes me love her even more.
Fuck, dudes. This is not good.
Damn suicide bombers.WHERE'S YOUR CHRISTMAS SPIRTIT, DAMNIT?!?!
Honestly, I started worrying about her as soon as she returned to Pakistan after being exiled.
@TruculentandUnreliable: On the Today show, they said they had received confirmation of her death from her husband.
This is awful, and unfortunately, not at all surprising. Of course the crazies want to kill a woman threatening the status quo.
She's dead, unfortunately. It's strange that Bhutto of all people would be set up to be a martyr. I doubt that Al Quaeda was involved--she had a nice spectrum of political enemies.
Either way, RIP Benazir.
@Reluctant Financier: ahem.. Spirit, not Spirtit
@so5minutesago: Yeah. I mean, you kind of knew it as soon as she came back. Then I was sure it would happen when they had an attack during her parade.
As horrible as it sounds I kind of expected this to happen as well, it's beyond sad.
Yes, the latest reports I've seen have concluded that she's dead. Goddamn. The worst is that I can't even begin to trust this administration to be helpful during this time in any capacity whatsoever.
Fuck.
She's dead :(
Unfortunately, I don't think it would be that hard to convince a suicide bomber to go in and do something like this.
Well, technically Pakistan is still under military rule, even though Musharraf took off the military uniform. I think it's also a safe bet to see the January 8 elections tampered with in some way as well.
Is there supposed to be more "after the jump" that I'm not seeing? I don't want to start the day off with another "worst comment" but I'm not seeing anything after the jump. Is my cache screwed up again?
:(
I came into work and saw this on CNN, and let out a loud gasp and a "Holy shit!" When I told people why I did that, seeing as they were concerned about my outburst, every single one of them stared at me with that blank, ignorant stare 99% of the world seems to have mastered.
This sucks.
Good morning, world, how are you today?
Still fucked, I see.
@meaghan2k: I hear you. I just told my boss about it and he was like "Were any American soldiers killed?" Idiot. Pakistan is not Iraq.
@meaghan2k: Oh, I know. I was about to send an email to the girl that works at the front desk who is probably one of the better-informed people in the office...then I realized that she told me yesterday that she didn't know what Qatar was. Sigh.
I am so sick of this suicide bombing, in the name of Allah, for the "good" of the people and the religion and tradition shit. It seems ignorant and alien to me and I trulytrulytruly believe the U.S. has absolutely no business getting mixed up in the ME clusterfuck. At all. Majorly because I'm really scared this isn't as alien as it seems.
It is manifestly bad that she was assassinated, but I don't really know very much about Benazir Bhutto. What did she do?
The wikipedia article does not paint an especially flattering picture.
She was positive that she would be killed and she talked about how hard it was on her family that she insisted on coming back to Pakistan.
I wish I felt so strongly about some of the things wrong with my country that I would be willing to die for it.
Let me rephrase that- I wish I was brave enough to something like that and not just sit around and be cynical and bitch all the time..
According to the BBC, her party was the most popular in the country. There are so many people at the hospital where she was taken, the glass has broken on the outside emergency room doors. People are beating their breasts, wailing and keening. It was only a matter of time after she returned, dammit.
I always thought those corruption charges that made her flee to begin with were completely bogus.
So who was the dunderhead that didn't see the "Gee, if we kill her, we set her up to be a martyr" part of the equation? Of course the government will impose martial law, if only to keep from getting killed themselves. Even so, Musharraf's got to know that his days are also numbered. I'm beginning to think that lust for power and control, not for money, is the true root of all evil.
@leMaldeTete: What's really terrifying about the suicide bombing epidemic is that hundreds of people die because of that shit a day, yet those numbers are now the norm, and every once in a while I'll sit here and think: HOLY FUCK 130 people died because of one bombing? And this happens every day?
I guess if you didn't allow yourself to become slightly numb to the sheer grossness of it all you'd go crazy.
Happy fucking Holidays, everyone.
@braak: This is a good article: [www.npr.org]
@meaghan2k: I know what you mean. I sat at my desk in shock and tried to think of one co-worker that would have some sort of clue what I was talking about if I told them. There's not a one that would have any idea. Sad.
No matter who was behind this bombing it will have serious long term effects. As it is the government seems to be a one man show there and the assassination of an opposition leader will likely lead to a steep other candidates. And that makes me wonder what Pakistan is going to look like 7 years from now.
And, lest we forget, this country has nuclear weapons, so the further it delves into chaos, the more compromised the security of the entire area. *shudder*
@leMaldeTete: She wasn't killed in the name of Islam - she was killed because Musharraf is trying to take out all of his competition.
Wasn't she a big part of the reason the Taliban was able to start growing in Pakistan? Cast doubts on the Al Qaeda-backing. I don't know too much about her brief reigns though.
@tinychicken: Oh Lord. I just heard someone talking about how they knew someone who was half-Syrian, and she said, "You can tell, because she looks sort of European." For fuck's sake.
@xay: There were a couple of letters supposedly from "Friends of Al Qaeda," but yeah. I doubt they were really from them in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised if that fucker is directly behind this.
@so5minutesago: Thank you for that!
@meaghan2k: I don't know what horrifies me more about this development -- the potential effects on Pakistani and world politics, or the fact that no one seems to know and/or care about her assassination. I work in a fucking law firm, you'd think people would bat more than an eyelash over what's been happening in Pakistan and Ms. Bhutto's death. I am ashamed of my profession, and of most Americans. Sigh.
@xay:
Competition who happens to be female.
Gawd... I am on day three of my hangover and this news made me gasp out loud too! Ugg, I just don't have any part of my brain that is functioning at full capacity to articulate how disturbing the news of her assasination and what it will mean for the future of women in the Middle East (generally speaking).
@meaghan2k: I think you're right about the numbness. I was initially surprised at how upset I was at this news (but it was expected! not that many other people were killed! etc.), then I realized it's sort of normal to feel bummed about something so authentically depressing and miserable. Funny, how we desensitize ourselves.
@xay: Even if this was Musharraf, the two concepts are not mutually exclusive. I meant - and said - in the name of Allah, not in the nme of Islam.
@Crazy Broad: I know. I love how people can be so blissfully ignorant. It makes me want to go get plastered and then get all worked up that the Gilmore Girls are over.
I'm shocked. This is so sad.
Josh Foust is right. It's not in Musharraf's best interests to harm her. For one thing, she was a favorite of the U.S. State Department and he's been increasing on their shit list, so murdering her wouldn't help him stay on our good side.
The problem with deciding whether or not to keep supporting Musharraf is that if he goes down, the country will almost certainly be ruled by hardline religious nuts who will then have nuclear weaponry.
@leMaldeTete: That last part didn't make much sense there did it? Hhhh. I meant to distinguish a misguided application of "Praise Allah, this is what He instructs" vs. "I am doing this for Islam because it makes sense to the ethic of the religion". The former could possibly conform to a suicide bombing - or to the lust for supreme power in the region, ahem - the latter, not so much.
@leMaldeTete: No they are not, but religion isn't the primary motivator here and I think that it is a huge generalization to say that the violence is being done in the name of Allah when it is really about power and politics. Even if al Qaeda is involved, their motivation probably has more to do with maintaining influence over Pakistani politics and reducing US influence than religion.
I feel horrifically ignorant, but the only cure for ignorance is asking questions:
From what I have read, it appears she was effectively out of power anyway with no real hopes of winning it back any time soon. So are those of you who are crushed mourning her as a person and a female figure on the political scene? It also strikes me that, while not as bad as other political leaders, particularly in that part of the country, she was likely corrupt. Please educate me!