Thursday, December 27, 2007

In the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, maybe only one thing is clear: The mess in Pakistan has gotten messier

>

Buses burn in Hyderabad, in former Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto's home province of Sindh, following her assassination

It's still unclear exactly how two-time Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was murdered today following a campaign rally stop in Rawalpindi. It appears that she was shot and her car was the target of a suicide bomber--after the car had pulled away

It's even less clear who is behind the assassination. If we set aside the possibility that President Pervez Musharraf--who is at once the U.S.'s best friend in Pakistan and no friend at all--was involved, and it's not at all clear that this possibility can be set aside, it seems likelier that the movers were supporters rather than opponents of the president. (U.S. policymakers have been trying to ram a Musharraf-Bhutto alliance down the throats of the Pakistanis.)

I've seen it suggested that Bhutto as a martyr may serve the democratic cause in Pakistan more than she ever did in her manipulative and corrupt political life. It's hard to see in the short term, though, where a meaningful pro-democracy movement might come from in Pakistan.

A few things seem relatively clear:

(1) The country was already both a human disaster zone and a powder keg--a nuclear powder keg at that.

(2) The mess is even worse today. The country was already in a state of emergency, and President Musharraf now has the perfect excuse clamp down even further. The scheduled election seems an all-but-certain casualty.

(3) It would be hard to imagine anyone less competent to have a positive influence on the situation than the babbling criminal psychopaths in charge of our foreign policy, who have done more to promote the cause of anti-American terrorism than Osama bin-Laden could ever have dreamed of. (Howie was just writing about the mess that the Bush regime has made of our policy toward Pakistan--dumping $5 billion in without achieving any result, unless you count deepening and hardening anti-Americanism.

Labels: , , ,

7 Comments:

At 1:19 PM, Blogger Kathy said...

I worry that cheney/bush will try something similar here, and attempt to stop the next Pres. election.

 
At 1:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, that's pretty paranoid of you. Did you take your pills today?

 
At 7:02 PM, Blogger --mf said...

OT--

Congratulations!

You are a winner of the Second Annual Golden Monkeyfist Awards! No, this is not spam. The Link to the Awards is here:
http://monkeyfister.blogspot.com/2007/12/2007-golden-monkeyfist-awards.html

It is requested of you, to participate heavily in the nomination of the "Au Peer" Award Winner-- Go to the link above and read the post-- You are required to select the best blogger from amongst a short list of three excellent SMALL Bloggers provided by every winner.

The link to the discussion for the nomination of the "Au Peer" Award is stashed in the comments section of this recipe thread:
http://monkeyfister.blogspot.com/2007/12/excellent-salmon-spread.html

They'll never suspect the Salmon Spread...

You are expected to take a part in this "Au Peer Discussion." Make a fellow blogger happy.

Cheers to you, and thank you for your excellent posting!

Sincerely yours,

Monkeyfister
http://monkeyfister.blogspot.com/

 
At 8:28 PM, Blogger TSop said...

I'm sure that Dracula Negroponte carried the go ahead message from Bushco when he visited Pervez just a short while ago...

 
At 8:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Katherine, a very healthy anticipation.
Expect the worst and you won't be disappointed.

I still wonder that people didn't riot more in the streets during the 2000 selection and throw even more eggs and crap at the "presidential selection" limo on the way to the White House. I recall that Bush2 couldn't walk as was customary because of the egss. All this as a punishment for those of us who KNEW to go to Ohio or Florida and help out and did not.

Anonymousie, Katherine looks very nice, that is good breeding most certainly and VITAMINs of course. Nice of you to remind.

HOWIE and Keni. Congrats! You won a (another?) Golden MonkeyFist. (Was this some special competition you were involved in Bangkok by chance?). Looks well deserved.

 
At 8:54 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n24/ali_01_.html

Another bushco kleptocrat bites the dust.

 
At 10:16 PM, Blogger --mf said...

Do two things:

First Check your blog’s email for a message from me.

And then go here:
http://monkeyfister.blogspot.com/2007/12/2007-golden-monkeyfist-awards.html

You’ve got good news, and very important directions! Nothing but absolute goodness for you is involved with this.

Sincerely yours,

Monkeyfister
http://monkeyfister.blogspot.com/

 

Post a Comment

<< Home