All This Is That: Benazir Bhutto

Saturday, December 29, 2007

The angels are weeping. . .

The angels are weeping today, for Benazir Bhutto, her family, and Pakistan itself, and for the six members of the Anderson family of Carnation, Washington (near Seattle), who were gunned down on Christmas Eve by their daughter/sister/aunt and her boyfriend

click the weeping angels to enlarge

Accused killer "sorry they're gone''

"They were my family, too, you know?" Joe McEnroe told a Seattle Times reporter in a jailhouse interview. He may face death for the Carnation slayings.

And the angels weep for Benazir Bhutto, who was not perfect, but who had become a sort of JFK-figure of hope/beacon of light to the mess that is Pakistan.

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Thursday, December 27, 2007

Benazir Bhutto Assassinated in Pakistan

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday by an attacker who shot her after a campaign rally. The killer then blew himself up; at least he got that part right.

Like Benazir or not (and she admittedly has a whiff of corruption too), this is not good. Pakistan sits smack dab in the middle of the powder keg; situated between Afghanistan, Iran, India and China, Pakistan is the second largest Muslim country in the world, and stability there is central to world peace.

The prime ministerial elections are just around the corner, and the next government is crucial —especially with current president General Pervez Musharraf [US buddy and George Bush ally]accused of blocking two former PMs—Bhutto and rival Nawaz Sharif—from running with the use of controversial legislation. If you are Nawaz Sharif, this has to be a sleepless night.

A photo 30 seconds before Benazir Bhutto

was gunned down

Bhutto's death stoked chaos and a wave of "civil unrest" across Pakitstan. President Musharif, vowed to obtain justice. Of course he did...not long after he popped the cork on a bottle of Dom Perignon— However, we all know he was no fan of Benazir. Obviously no one wants rioting in an already volatile country that happens to be a member of the nuclear-capable club. They are a critical U.S. ally in the war on terror. President Musharraf has functioned as a George Bush lapdog, and it was clear Benazir would not be on the boat. Do I think President George W. Bush was involved in the assassination? Absolutely not. Do I think he took the same tact as Phil Leotardo's capos on The Sopranos? Maybe. Do I think George Bush said to Musharraf "You do what you gotta do?" Maybe.

Benazir Bhutto became the first female prime minister in the Muslim world when she was elected in 1988 at the age of 35. She was deposed in 1990, re-elected in 1993, and ousted again in 1996 amid charges of corruption and mismanagement. She said the charges were politically motivated...but in 1999 she chose, right or wrong, to stay in exile rather than go home and face the music.

Bhutto, 54, will be buried alongside the grave of her father, former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was removed from power in a 1977 junta and executed.
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