Bhutto Death Threatens Democracy, Security

More Violence, Derailed Elections And Vulnerable Nukes May Loom After Pakistan Opposition Leader's Assassination

(CBS)  Violence is not new to Pakistan. The attack on Benazir Bhutto took place in the same park where Pakistan's first prime minister was assassinated, 56 years ago.

The Bush administration has spent $10 billion since 9/11 to bolster security and democracy in Pakistan. Now, it may be back to square one, reports CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews.

Ten days before her probable election, Benazir Bhutto was already among the most important leaders in the world. It was she who would legitimize a fair election in Pakistan.

She was pro-reform, anti-terror and for the most part pro-American. A grim looking President Bush expressed sorrow, not just for her family, but for democracy itself.

"The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy," Mr. Bush said.

In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai, who met with Bhutto just hours before her death, described her as a martyr for democracy. Around the world, it was as if a promising moment in history had just slipped away.

"This is a sad day for democracy. It's a tragic hour for Pakistan," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Bhutto, despite a record of corruption and thirst for power, was genuinely popular in Pakistan, mostly in the southern province of Sindh. But her populist message also earned her an estimated 35-40 percent approval overall. She was hated however in the northwest frontier, along the Afghan border, a 1,500-mile stretch where tribal leaders, al Qaeda and the Taliban hold sway. Bhutto had promised to chase down the terrorists here including Osama bin Laden in a way President Musharraf never would or could.

"Benazir Bhutto was the most vigorous in her expression of clarity that she would go after al Qaeda," said Wendy Chamberlin, president of the Middle East Institute and former ambassador to Pakistan. "You don't hear any other candidates saying that. And that was why she was targeted."

But Bhutto had more enemies than just al Qaeda. She had denounced the Pakistani intelligence service, was at arms length with the army and she'd defied emergency rule under Musharraf. To her supporters, the list of suspects in her death is endless, and the risk right now is uncontrolled rage on the streets.

"What we have to watch particularly along the border regions in Peshawar as well as in Lahore and Karachi is how many people come out in the streets, how much anger there is," said CBS consultant Jere Van Dyk in Afghanistan.

For the U.S., a destabilized Pakistan is a double threat. Street violence could derail the elections and it could make vulnerable Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Defense officials tell CBS News national security correspondent David Martin they are physically watching Pakistan's nukes.

The Pakistanis are believed to have between 50 and 75 nuclear weapons. They are stored in facilities which the U.S. helped to design to make as secure as possible, Martin reports. The weapons consist of bombs for aircraft and warheads for missiles, but they are stored in a disassembled form as an additional fail-safe. That would first have to be assembled before it would be a true nuclear weapon ready to go off.

Pakistan has long been the real front line in the global war on terror - a place where secular democrats were confronting religious extremists by trying to stage a free election.

Now the most popular of the secular democrats is dead.

[barbaraf4]

Bhutto wanted to die. She wanted to be a martyr. She had subjected her followers to suicide bombs over the past two months. Many had died for her cause. It was only a matter of time.

[dimmu19]

Why doesn''t cbs or any main stream news talk about Bhutto telling the world that Osoma Bin Ladin was murdered and she even named who killed him last month in an interview????

Watch the interview on you tube.

watch?v=oIO8B6fpFSQ

[beehive21-2009]

CBS ,please do not put thoughts into the worlds minds,with your headlines,you must have a crystal ball?The world shall go on,Poor thing. poor families of all those killed today,however lets get on with it and get the killers to hang for what they done,riots would play into the hands of the murders,keep your heads and bring the murders to hang.Help stabilize your country.

[searingtruth]

"We became evil to fight evil, assuring its victory."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[samthetvcat]

I thought I heard on CNN that Bush urged Bhutto to go back to Pakistan because she was his ''Plan B''. Even if I heard that wrong though, wouldn''t it have behooved Bush to give her the $ to get the security she needed to keep safe? I feel like this didn''t have to happen . . .

All the experts say it was more likely Al Qaeda/Taliban who assassinated her rather than Musharraf, but if he had felt like it was in his best interest to keep her safe wouldn''t he have provided her with the full protection that should have been afforded to her as a former head of state?

Like is Musharraf only an ''ally'' because we can trust him with the nukes? Because he doesn''t seem like he''s on our side much more than that. Who exactly are the alternatives - Shrub makes it sound like the only alternative are the Taliban. Isn''t there anybody else eager to take the reigns that the people of Pakistan like who isn''t an extremist?

Even when Pakistan was ''democratic'' wasn''t it rife with corruption and inequity? Like realistically, they''re not going to have a society like ours any time soon . . . so long as somebody rises to power who isn''t going to use the nukes, shouldn''t it be OK (?)

How eager is Pakistan for the Taliban to take power?

[searingtruth]

For many years Americans have been warning of the consequences of the abandonment of our Constitution and the rule of law it embraces.

As I did over two years ago in A Future of the Brave.

But Bush and his enablers, often referred to as "neocons" but more simply and accurately described as traitors to our nation and way of life, won.

And thus we inherit the world they so desired, and we decried.
ST


"And so together we shared the fate of all the failed democracies before us, joining those pitiful beings who had held the light of freedom in one hand, and put it out with the other."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[sharncedar]

It shows the pathetic depths of our nation- we set up this dumb clown bhutto to try to seize the power in Pakistan, she created riots and destabilized the country, and we couldn''t even protect her long enough for another victory for Bush''s "democracy". We are really getting pathetic. Even our clowns and phonies are getting killed, who will want to be a clown for the US now?

I advised years ago that the best ocurse for a really, really stupid person is to be stubbornly moral, to do the right thing and follow simple moral laws. Because you are never going to figure it out. The most pathetic helpless losers on earth are those too dumb to understand the subtlety of the situation but who still try to play games and manipulate things. That is the current US policy - a negative and sneaky attempt to manipulate the world from a position of utter ignorance. so we just make mistake aftetr mistake, like some stupid clowns, but how can I laugh, its my country too.

If you are too stupid to be a "player" , just do the right thing. Is that too much to ask of these dummies?

[searingtruth]

"The greatest persuader is the ever encroaching power of truth."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[nearl4511]

Lots of posts on other threads related to this story, but so far these are the most introspective.

Yes, Bhutto''s assasination is a symbol of fails policy and/or attempt to wrest some power away from Musharaff. The Administration thought that there was an agreement, but they mis-read Musharraf''s intention to hang onto power at all cost.

Now, we seemingly have no choice but to support Musharraf as long as he seems to be against Al Quaeda. It is not entirely clear, however, really how strong an ally to the US he is...or how much power/interest he has in certain regions of Pakistan. His success at reining in terrorist groups is questionable.

Looks like the traditional support of a dictator is the current US strategy.

[searingtruth]

"Never forsake humanity for inhumanity, despite all disguise."
SearingTruth

"Twice we have fallen; towers by enemies without, and freedom by enemies within."
SearingTruth

"It is the entire circumstance that concerns me, not the small window which peers in upon it."
SearingTruth

"We have become the evil we fought."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[searingtruth]

"Dictators usually surround themselves with at least the minimal trappings of democracy, most often a powerless and amoral parliament or congress to rubber stamp their every crime."
SearingTruth

"And then, in all my passion and sacrifice, I found myself only a number to be counted and disposed of."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[searingtruth]

"Five coincidences make a plan."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[jb01201a]

Dimmu19 that''''s really interesting. Good find. About 6.5 minutes into the interview she briefly talks about Bin Laden''''s murder and who did it. The US started out all gung-ho about going after him but sort of lost interest and focused on Iraq instead. Maybe they (the Bush admin.) bring up his name now and then to keep us paranoid that the boogeyman is out there about to get us.
Well lookie here: another typical liberal stupid remark. Well, maybe, we should bake a cake and invite all the "nicees" terrorist to a party and set down and talk ! How nice. You libs are stupid and you will be the down fall of the US and the world.

[searingtruth]

"We courted evil while condemning it.
And suffered its fate."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[Krazcarl]

searing truth...put the pipe down before you post your the only one the sees your intelligence..

[endofempire]

Let''s give a rousing round of applause to all the Libs/Communists/Arab sympathizers who still think Muslims can be convinced of dropping their evil, murderous ways. Lets remember that while our kids are playing in the safety of their school playground, their kids are learing how to assemble an AK-47... I know Christians had their thing with killing and maiming in the name of the church, but the Inquisition and the Crusades have been over for some time now... We like to call that progress and we jokingly refer to it as "Joining the 21st Century".

[searingtruth]

"And so the seeds they had sown with such great attention and fervor, never knowing the flower, devoured all in their compass."
SearingTruth

"Death. I saw only death. And a promise from evil that death would soon subside."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[searingtruth]

"Lets remember that while our kids are playing in the safety of their school playground, their kids are learing how to assemble an AK-47 ..."
endofempire


And hundreds of thousands of our children continue to be "legally" raped, generation after generation, by "Christians" in Utah where pedophilia is the norm. It sounds like the same errant subset of humanity (only ours is worse) ...
ST


"... I know Christians had their thing with killing and maiming in the name of the church, but the Inquisition and the Crusades have been over for some time now .."
endofempire


Except that "their thing" is continuing today in Iraq, and wherever Dictator Bush declares that "their thing" continue.

End of Empire indeed.
ST


"And so I ask, how many atrocities must we commit before we are evil? How many rights must we lose before we are no longer free?"
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[searingtruth]

"They proclaimed that only our children counted, when in truth they were the only to pay."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[searingtruth]

"Peace is simple.
We need only agree upon its necessity."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[searingtruth]

"A whisper of horror.
That''s all we could hear."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[jb01201a]

Well lookie here at this stupid leftist remark:
And hundreds of thousands of our children continue to be "legally" raped, generation after generation, by "Christians" in Utah where pedophilia is the norm. It sounds like the same errant subset of humanity (only ours is worse) ...
ST

I rest my case.. you libs are stupid

[searingtruth]

"Well lookie here at this stupid leftist remark:
And hundreds of thousands of our children continue to be "legally" raped, generation after generation, by "Christians" in Utah where pedophilia is the norm. It sounds like the same errant subset of humanity (only ours is worse) ...
ST
I rest my case.. you libs are stupid"
jb01201a


Hey, at least we can Google - http://www.polygamy.org/

But the worst part is that we can also read and understand the old law of our land before Dictator Bush usurped power, The Constitution of the United States of America.
ST


"In fact, the terrorists must be ecstatic. To them it looks like they simply attacked once and the American Constitution self destructed."
SearingTruth, A Future of the Brave

"Any country, who by power of its moral authority and appeal to conscience obtains world predominance, will certainly perish when asserting its right to immoral and unconscionable crime."
SearingTruth

"Our government is no longer American, thus, as in the beginning, the people must suffice."
SearingTruth


A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[jb01201a]

Lastdance - you are stupid but not surprising coming from a lib

[searingtruth]

"Who would say freedom is not free, with the price being freedom itself."
SearingTruth

"Some claim that freedom makes our country less secure."
SearingTruth

"It''s not a war on terror gone wrong, it''s a war on American liberty gone right."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[glaswolf]

Bhutto exposed herself in response to youthful proBhutto chants according an aide 10 yds away. She had to stand up to be vulnerble to the gunshots, whose piercing caliber indicate full metal jackets or military rounds. They tried to revive her so she was probably not shot by hollow points. She was shot going thru a gait where she was conveniently within shot of a pistol marksman as her bullet injuries would indicate. Question: Was she set up? She was in an unusually colored bullet proof vehicle, for a politician, with an open sunroof. Who were the folks who baited her out with their proBhutto chants?

[searingtruth]

"To give ones life for freedom and democracy is always a tragic honor. But to give it knowingly is a desperate rite of sacrifice and warning."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[jb01201a]

lastdance7 - have you checked the movie "one who flew over the coco nest !

[nikkicatt1]

Ms Bhutto was doing the one thing that Americans have forgotten how to do: Get off the couch and join with your neighbors in peaceful protest of our government. I read a lot of posts on liberal bashing, quote spewing and Nazi similies, but, are we not discussing the tragedy unfolding in Pakistan and the affect it will have on the rest of the world? Ms. Bhutto may have been pro-American, but she was just as power mad as our Pres. Bush. She was a politician - plain and simple. The media would have us believe that Pakistan was behind her 100%. Wasn''t her actual approval rating around 35% in the south and alot lower in the north? If she was "setup" does anyone have any ideas on who it was in her camp that did it?

[jb01201a]

Well lookie here:
Ms Bhutto was doing the one thing that Americans have forgotten how to do: Get off the couch and join with your neighbors in peaceful protest of our government.

Now, how can you libs say this ? You love government - commis, socialist, etc etc etc. Maybe have the iron cycle painted in the middle of the American flag ! Wow, that would be a nice sight you stupid libs

[searingtruth]

"lastdance7 - have you checked the movie "one who flew over the coco nest !"
jb01201a


Hey, what did you think of Utah''s legalization of the generational rape of children, and Senator Hatch''s fervent support of it?

You know, as documented at http://www.polygamy.org/

And by the way it''s Cuckoo.
ST


"Our question is not whether or not we have enemies, or whether or not we should fear them. It is whether or not we recognize our true enemies, and whether or not we shall face and defeat them as Americans."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[nikkicatt1]

jb01201a - Your comments make absolutly no sense. If you are so anti-american, why are you here? Do you have any convictions or beliefs other than spouting hatred toward everything? By the way, when did you vote last? Have you ever been in the service of your country? Does anyone in your family speak to you? I bet you were a BIG hit during the holidays.

[dimmu19]

Bhutto says Osoma was murdered. Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIO8B6fpFSQ and see for yourself. 6 minutes into interview.

[mcvet]

Now, how can you libs say this ? You love government - commis, socialist, etc etc etc. Maybe have the iron cycle painted in the middle of the American flag ! Wow, that would be a nice sight you stupid libs

Posted by jb01201a at 06:05 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

Went to your Nazi Youth Rally last night didn''t you? Do they still call them that? I know you skin heads have changed things in the fascist movement to some extent. I can only imagine what you would have done when those Radical Liberals decided that PEOPLE and not fuhrer''s or kings should govern. Sieg Heil Bush!

[mcvet]

Shouldn''t we be taking some actions to safeguard the Nukes? Oh that''s right we have ALL our troops in that hot bed of Al Queda activity, Iraq! I wonder if anyone in the White House understands our now ages old belief that we should LEAD the Free World and NOT dictate to it? Sieg Heil Bush!

[jb01201a]

jb01201a is just mad because another car bomb went off in Baghdad. his doofus President is so incompetent that he can''''t subdue one little country. HAHAHAHA!!
Maybe we should build a stadium for you stupid libs so you can cheer on and hear how stupid you all really are!

[mcvet]

lastdance7 - have you checked the movie "one who flew over the coco nest !


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by jb01201a at 05:52 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

I don''t know about him but I''d say YOU have watched it much more than you should have! You don''t even know what a "Liberal" is for God''s sake. I mean YOU are still using trash used by you Nazi''s during the McCarthy Era and the Civil Rights Movement. If you''re going to hate the majority of your neighbors you should at least try to be up to date. Sieg Heil Bush!

[jb01201a]

Its nice to see all your cheevez led comments ! - funny !

[mcvet]

jb01201a is just mad because another car bomb went off in Baghdad. his doofus President is so incompetent that he can''''''''t subdue one little country. HAHAHAHA!!
Maybe we should build a stadium for you stupid libs so you can cheer on and hear how stupid you all really are!

Posted by jb01201a at 06:56 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

I''m sorry for you.. you are so hung up on the "party" and your idea of what should be that you can''t understand what your neighbors and fellow citizens are saying. It''s got to be a terrible world you live in...one in which the ONLY opinion is yours and the ONLY options are those of your "party". You are truly sad and sick. Sieg Heil Bush!

[jb01201a]

Hey MCVet, it is you - try to quell the right to speak and it is you and your group which are destroying the US from within. To hear others is good - but then when someone from the right says something you immediately bring them down with your ideas. Wow what a concept !

[nikkicatt1]

jb01201a - I am still waiting for an answer. When did you vote last? Have you ever served your country? Do you read anything except Mein Kamp? I read you same stale comments (stupide libs) over and over. Can your brain process any original thoughts?

[nikkicatt1]

I apologize for the errors in spelling in my previous post. I get so angry when someone tries to label me as a liberal or a conservative. As Americans we should be a little of both. There are some people that think you have to be one or the other. Our duty as Americans is to question our government and to stand up for our befiefs. At least some of us try to do it without name calling

[jb01201a]

Hey nikkicatt1 - yes, 4 years in the army. Voted for Clinton in 92 and 96. I knew that was a mistake. I woke up in 2001 and saw who really is defending our country.

[jb01201a]

Well lookie here: another stupid lib remark:
jb01201a, I doubt you can pull yourself away from NASCAR lon enough to wake up. Did you hear there was another carbombing in Baghdad? And Bin Laden is still on the loose. And President Shrub loves evil dictators with WMD - Musharraf comes to mind. You RINOs are a hoot. Big Failures, but still a hoot.

Another carbomb - like the cowboys 30 and Greenbay 23. You people should cheer ! Fantastic news

[mcvet]

Hey nikkicatt1 - yes, 4 years in the army. Voted for Clinton in 92 and 96. I knew that was a mistake. I woke up in 2001 and saw who really is defending our country.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by jb01201a at 07:19 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

Well WHO would that be there Sparky? Those that attacked the WTC under Clinton are cooling their heels in JAIL, you know the place where we NORMALLY put people who attack us? Those who attacked the WTC under Sir Lies-A-Lot just killed this leader in a nation that ACTUALLY does have Nukes that ACTUALLY can be used against us. Maybe you should sit down and think about the garbage you put out or are you one of those bigots who say they are all the same and kill them all? Sieg Heil Bush!

[mcvet]

jb01201a, I''''m a REAL Republican, not a liberal. You are a RINO. We don''''t want you in our GOP anymore. Now shoo little boy.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by FloydZepp at 07:27 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

From someone who supported Big Jim Thompson of Illinois, thank you. I will NEVER vote Republican again until the party is back where it belongs.

[jb01201a]

well, well and well lookie here:
RINO Cowards. "Boo Hoo Hoo the sky is falling! The mean old terrorists are gonna come over in their boats and take my Bud Light and Kenny Chesney and NASCAR away and make me grow a beard!"
Now what kind of intelligence do you have ? Maybe a pea just like the rest of you. Hey stupid, 3,000 people got killed on 9/11 - oh i forget - Bush did that by flying a missile into the trade centers - sorry I missed that one.

[b-easy63]

What democracy? They are ruled by a dictator, who just put a destroyed their Constitution, put a sham court into office and had them under martial law. Bhuttos death does not threaten what Pakistan never had--it only confirms the stakes for Musharref and the lengths he is prepared to go to in order to keep power.

Nice touch--shooting her then bombing her. Too bad this was novel to suicide bombing as they would never snipe then bomb--since the element of surprise would be lost from the gunfire and there would be less of an impact with the bomb. Seems like they shot her to make sure that this time, she would not escape the effects of the bombing like she did a few months ago. So shoot first, then bomb her and finally have someone claim it for Al Qaeda. But it was not Al Qaeda that gained the most from her death it was Musharref. He would have lost the election and the US if she was allowed to live.

[jb01201a]

I won''''t either. Until the GOP is rid of the RINOs and the Freakvangelicals I''''ll stay away. How wonderful that statement is. You changed my mine. I will vote for you. How intelligent is that !

[mcvet]

MCVet, good point. I thought the Shrub wasn''''t gonna rest until he caught or killed Bin Laden? The Shrub doesn''''t think he''''s important now. Does this mean the mean old terrorists went away? Was the Mission Accomplished? Heard yet another car bomb went off in Iraq today. Is Freedom on the March? - particularly in Pakistan where there''''s an Evil Dictator with stockpiles of WMD that the Shrub loves.....?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by FloydZepp at 07:31 AM : Dec 28, 2007
+ report abuse

Floyd, I''d say you pretty much have come to the same conclusion most of us have. We were sold a lot of Snake Oil buy a master of such things, Carl Rove. We should have know better taken what people like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell have done, the snake oil they sell people every day. IF we do not get back to OUR government, a government we grew up with, where we didn''t hate each other because we voted for a "Liberal" or a "Conservative", we can not survive. The folks who NOW control the Republican Party do NOT think like we do. They still haven''t gotten over the Civil Rights Act nor the Civil War for that matter. It''s all about THEIR ability to rule over the country PERIOD!