Benazir Bhutto assassinated

[Power Metal Dom]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7161590.stm

As a commenter said, "This is disgusting. Not only that a politician has been killed in cold blood, but also a...politician with peace in mind."

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Like flames on fuel...upon metal I drool

[OhhMy]

This is very very bad news.

[harmless loony]

Benazir was no angel and I didn't particularly agree with her politics but as an asian Muslim woman I had respect for her because she was at the forefront of breaking boundaries for women and enabling them to go into areas that were previously seen as male only.

I think it's disgusting and tragic. Especially as she was a wife and mother - no one deserves to die in such an awful manner (whatever their politics).

I've just got off the phone to my aunt in Lahore - she tells me that people are rioting on the streets and started setting fire to the buses etc.......this really is not good for Pakistan at all. Nawaz Sharif probably realises that he's most likely to be up next.

[amw62]

May she rest in peace for at least trying to right the wrongs of the region in her own way - whether you agree with her or not I respect her for trying.

[ElStudente]

I can't believe this, it's almost certain that things are back to square one in Pakistan today. Yet another voice of reason censured, and another lifeline lost.

[Bizarre Atheist]

Cue dirty great big war.

[hr]

[Guest]

"...detained for her own safety"?

maybe someone should've listened?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7086272.stm

[munchingfoo]

Not really. Although she might well be alive now if she had remained under arrest it would have done nothing to further her cause and she might as well have stayed away from the country.

She knew the risk, she probably knew its was all going to end this way, but she believed that furthering her cause was worth that end.


As many men wiser than I have said, terrorist pray on terror. The only way to defeat a terrorist is not to live in terror, even if that means dying.

[hr]

Tired Freudian references aside - your mother played my mighty skin flute like a surf crowned sea nymph trying to rouse Poseidon from his watery slumber!

[d_24]

Quoting munchingfoo from 12:12, 30th Dec 2007
As many men wiser than I have said, terrorist pray on terror. The only way to defeat a terrorist is not to live in terror, even if that means dying.

As much as I'd like to agree with that sentiment - not living in terror, exposing yourself to whatever the terrorists feel like throwing at you and dying as a result will achieve nothing as noble as it might be. Do you think the terrorists will just get bored of the death count and give up? No. They'll capitalise on that vulnerability.

Or have I misinterpreted your meaning?

[novium]

I don't think they were expressing the desire that we all throw ourselves in harm's way each and every moment.

Being sensible and being unafraid are not mutually exclusive.
But I think we've been more along the lines of hysteria and letting it control our lives.
[hr]

Neither the storms of crisis, nor the breezes of ambition could ever divert him, either by hope or by fear, from the course that he had chosen

[munchingfoo]

Quoting d_24 from 15:21, 30th Dec 2007

As much as I'd like to agree with that sentiment - not living in terror, exposing yourself to whatever the terrorists feel like throwing at you and dying as a result will achieve nothing as noble as it might be. Do you think the terrorists will just get bored of the death count and give up? No. They'll capitalise on that vulnerability.

Or have I misinterpreted your meaning?

I think perhaps you have either misinterpreted my meaning, or perhaps I have overestimated the extent of your reply.

The sole victory that a terror campaign can win is for the people they wish to terrorise to change their behavior.

In comparison to traditional wars, terror campaigns have very few casualties. In traditional war there are a mutlitude of ways for the agressor to be victorious and one of these is the same as with terrorism. Think back to WWII. Our civilian population was bombed almost to the point of submission and although there were some changes, like blackout/evacuation, the key to maintaining morale, and in the end victory, was making everyday life as normal as possible.

Whilst I wouldn't suggest that someone walk into an area known to contain a bomb just so they can get to work, to not go to work incase there is a bomb is to lose the war.

For Bhutto to have stayed locked in her home complex was for the terrorists to have complete victory. What they have done now is merely won a battle, and we know that a battle maketh not the war.

[hr]

Tired Freudian references aside - your mother played my mighty skin flute like a surf crowned sea nymph trying to rouse Poseidon from his watery slumber!

[Daniel]

Does anyone here honestly believe she was killed by terrorists?

Daniel

[novium]

Nothing's clear enough to say anything with any certainty.
Certainly, there were plenty of people out to kill her. If you're suggesting the/a government (or anyone else in power) were responsible, I think it's going to be a tricky issue, because all a powerful person would have had to do was not work to stop those threats.

[hr]

Neither the storms of crisis, nor the breezes of ambition could ever divert him, either by hope or by fear, from the course that he had chosen

[Jono]

Quoting Daniel from 16:54, 2nd Jan 2008
Does anyone here honestly believe she was killed by terrorists?

Daniel

Well, as Musharraf has been maintaining an alliance with extremist Islamic millitants, including the Taliban, since day one of his rule; there's no real distinction between the government doing it, or the terrorists doing it.

To quote Ted Rall's recent comment on the issue (pre-assasination). "The marketing of Musharraf as a bulwark against radical Islam and the Taliban is one of the biggest jokes of the post-9/11 era. He wasn't for the Taliban before he was against them. He was the Taliban."




[hr]

BY FIRE; BE PURGED!


http://www.myspace.com/tauntra

[Daniel]

Jono has hit the nail far closer to the proverbial head than anyone else on the thread so far. Prior to her death, Bhutto warned that individuals and groups within the government would be trying to target her, naming four individuals all of whom were close supporters of Musharraf, two of whom were powerful members of Pakistan's intelligence community -- the same community that has had a long and rich history of picking and, err, "depicking" that country's leaders.

It is a great tragedy. Pakistan faces a grace and uncertain future, most of which will be decided within the next few months.

Daniel

Quoting Jono from 01:35, 3rd Jan 2008
Well, as Musharraf has been maintaining an alliance with extremist Islamic millitants, including the Taliban, since day one of his rule; there's no real distinction between the government doing it, or the terrorists doing it.