Musharraf: Bhutto Knew Of Risks

Pakistan President Tells "60 Minutes" His Government Provided All Possible Security

(CBS)  Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, leads a country in crisis ten days after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Pakistan is the only Islamic country with nuclear bombs, a place where the influence of the Taliban and al Qaeda is growing.

The Bush administration hopes Musharraf can save his country, but he's the man many Pakistanis blame for its crisis. Was he responsible for the assassination, as many Pakistanis believe? Did his government fail to provide adequate protection? Or did Benazir Bhutto take unnecessary risks?

Lara Logan asked these questions of President Musharraf on Saturday in Islamabad, his first interview since the Bhutto assassination.

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"I knew that she's under threat. She herself knew that. I told her personally," Musharraf says.

"So it was just a matter of time, do you think?" Logan asks.

"It's your luck," Musharraf replies. "There's no real protection against a suicide bomber really."

Benazir Bhutto's luck ran out on December 27th. She was leaving a campaign rally in her bid to become prime minister for the third time. Bhutto was waving and smiling from her vehicle as excited supporters swarmed around her.

Gunshots rang out. Then, moments later, a suicide bomber blew himself up. In less than two hours, the announcement came that Bhutto was dead.

"That came as an utter shock. It came as an utter shock," Musharraf remembers.

Asked what the first thing was that went through his mind when he heard the news, Musharraf tells Logan, "Well, I knew there was going to be a disturbance in the country and I immediately told the army commander and told everyone to alert everyone, and we must take immediate measures to control any kind of agitation, any kind of emotional outburst."

The moment word of Bhutto's death hit the streets, riots broke out; much of the rage was directed at President Musharraf, her main political rival.

"By the time of her assassination, how would you describe the nature of your relationship with her?" Logan asks.

"Up and down. It wasn't constant - I had asked her not to come before the election, and that we will arrange - then she could come after the election, which she agreed. She had agreed. But then she decided to come all of a sudden. Now that changed a little. It upset me a little," Musharraf says.

"Were you feeling that she was not sticking to her agreements with you, that she wasn't keeping her word?" Logan asks.

"Well, to an extent yes. She used to change the goalposts frequently, depending on the ups and downs here in the country," Musharraf replies.

"It sounds like she was annoying you," Logan remarks.

"On many occasions," Musharraf admits. "But on many other occasions she was positive."

"Did you like her?" Logan asks.

"I think in such a situation it's not your personal like and dislikes. It’s more for the nation that I thought one has to interact with her," Musharraf says.

"When I hear words like that, you know, 'One has to interact with her for the sake of the nation,' sounds to me like you didn’t like her very much," Logan remarks.

"No I wouldn't say I didn’t like her - well, I like or dislike, I didn't have any kind of personal friendship with her," Musharraf says.

The president was upset with Bhutto last October, when, in spite of warnings, she went ahead with a rally in Karachi on her return from self-imposed exile in Dubai. Her convoy was attacked, with two blasts killing close to 150 people.

"Now, in Karachi we knew from Sheikh Mohammad of Dubai, I mean, I got information, intelligence from him. We had our own intelligence. He sent intelligence that there are suicide bombers there targeting her. We told her this," Musharraf explains. "And she knew it. We told her. Don’t do it!"

"And 145 people died," Logan remarks.

"We offered. We said that we can give you a helicopter," Musharraf says. "But she decided to go in that procession. That's what happened."

Asked if he thinks that was a mistake, Musharraf tells Logan, "Yes, indeed. Absolutely."

[cbsfan27]

Ms. Logan was a big disappointment to me. There are certainly times when a news reporter such as she, needs to be aggressively rude, perhaps to a pedophile or a mass murderer who is already in prison, but not to a leader of any country. Regardless of the opinions she or those of us in the United States may have, we must learn to show respect to all people and give those accused the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty, just as we do here (or at least should do here). Ms. Logan does a great job and does risk her life bringing us the news from the war zone, but regardless of that, she is representing our country and our youth. The leaders of this world need to find a way to come together. Accusations and rudeness will never accomplish that.

[cbsfan27]

Ms. Logan was a big disappointment to me. There are certainly times when a news reporter such as she, needs to be aggressively rude, perhaps to a pedophile or a mass murderer who is already in prison, but not to a leader of any country. Regardless of the opinions she or those of us in the United States may have, we must learn to show respect to all people and give those accused the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty, just as we do here (or at least should do here). Ms. Logan does a great job and does risk her life bringing us the news from the war zone, but regardless of that, she is representing our country and our youth. The leaders of this world need to find a way to come together. Accusations and rudeness will never accomplish that.

[tminhas]

Ms Logan, was very abrupt, and did not appear to be listening to President Musharraf, she deserves to "Report"(ed) as being "abus(ive)"

[maxxigarrett]

Did y''all come on the same bus, or what?
Was it the little yellow one?
Jeeze -

[ehtishamu]

It was very disappointing to watch Lara Logan interview President Musharraf. She showed total disregard for his position and rudely interrupted him throughout the interview. Why would CBS allow such unprofessionalism? Such behavior reinforces the "ugly American" and fuels the anti-American sentiment in that part of the world. But since CBS probably thinks it was a great performance, I hope she is sent next to interview Bush and Brown. Great going CBS!

[maxxigarrett]

Oh, I forgot - i was particularty taken by Lara'' relentless "eye contact" and unflinching manner of directing questions to Mussharrif. In contrast, Mike Walacs covered his mouth when he asked Roger Clemmons, "How about a lie detector test" - a ridiculous question to begin with; to a BASEBALL PLAYER!
How about we SUPPORT someone with a spine for a change?
Maxxi Garrett
Nashville, TN

[maxxigarrett]

C''mon people - we''re supposed to be the "good guys" ; the SMART ones; the light of the world. We Americans
have gotten so used to pablum, soft-ball, "journalism" that we can only accept direct confrontation from paparazzi confrontations of pop-idols like Britney Spears - this we can''t get enough of. I would pay GREEN money to see Lara Logan ask Bush "what about 9/11, you dim wit" or " if you made a mistake invading Iraq, why not say so and stop killing the people there?"
I mean we already have Katie Dimples giving us our Nighty Night - what else do we want, Mickey Mouse hosting the evening news? Lara Logan was BRILLIANT with that punk Mussharrif - we just don''t seem to "get" the context YET - connect a few dots, folks -
we are sheep being led to the .... what is it ... trough?....promised land?....oh, where is it sheep are lead to?
Anyway, we USED to admire people with BALLS - even beautiful women.
[e-mail]

[politicker]

how dare this little arrogant $%*# talk to a president of a country in this manner?? and CBS is proudly showing this as an example of their fine reporting and cultural finesse?? shame on you CBS... any remote semblance American media had of being "intelligent" and sensitive to the non-american, non-white civilization of this planet is gone. Be it fox news or cbs news, its just a bunch of ignorant, arrogant rednecks running the show who couldnt spell ETIQUETTE if their mothers lives depended on it. lara logan needs to be banned from ever entering Pakistan or any other country for that matter - apart from her little racist heaven in South Africa.

[politicker]

how dare this little arrogant $%*# talk to a president of a country in this manner?? and CBS is proudly showing this as an example of their fine reporting and cultural finesse?? shame on you CBS... any remote semblance American media had of being "intelligent" and sensitive to the non-american, non-white civilization of this planet is gone. Be it fox news or cbs news, its just a bunch of ignorant, arrogant rednecks running the show who couldnt spell ETIQUETTE if their mothers lives depended on it. lara logan needs to be banned from ever entering Pakistan or any other country for that matter - apart from her little racist heaven in South Africa.

[politicker]

how dare this little arrogant $%*# talk to a president of a country in this manner?? and CBS is proudly showing this as an example of their fine reporting and cultural finesse?? shame on you CBS... any remote semblance American media had of being "intelligent" and sensitive to the non-american, non-white civilization of this planet is gone. Be it fox news or cbs news, its just a bunch of ignorant, arrogant rednecks running the show who couldnt spell ETIQUETTE if their mothers lives depended on it. lara logan needs to be banned from ever entering Pakistan or any other country for that matter - apart from her little racist heaven in South Africa.

[unnews-2009]

Lara Logan is the most abraisive and ineffective reporter 60 Minutes has ever employed. If your network thinks that this kind of rude,interrupting and none substantive form of interviwing a head of state ( Musharraf ) is of any benefit to the listener in terms of information, you should try heading for where the sun DOES shine now and then. This biased form of interrogation does not respect the viewers'' ability to come to their own conlcusions. Getting at the truth is one thing, but blatant disrespect for a stading head of state no matter who he or she is, is a very low road to take.No one, even the weak pesidential candidates standing in this election, deserve to be subjected to Ms. Logan''s childish and unprofessional approach.

[asfeen-2009]

I would like to ask everyone who was offended by this unprofessional interview to post your complaints on the "Contact Us" link in the bottom of this page. So the producers of CBS know what type of reporters they have.

Thank you

[asfeen-2009]

By watching this show first I thought I am watching Colbert Report or SNL, but no this was real.

Jon Stewart also asked President Musharraf about Osama Bin Laden, but he asked very professionally. I think CBS needs to send their correspondents to Comedy Central, since they are alot more professional.

I don''t think Musharraf should allow immature reporters to even approch him.

[asfeen-2009]

i did not know CBS is so unprofessional, don''t they know which of their staff members are qualified enough to know who are they talking to!!!
For God sake, be realistic, imagine a Pakistani reporter asking Bush if he is is involved in a murder, without any evidance.
forget about Pakistani reporter, try sending your well-qualified Lara Logan to ask Bush if he was involved in 9/11.

[wan_paul]

I''ve seen high school reporters with more maturity than Lara Logan. As for her craft, she should go learn it all over again and mix in a couple classes that work on her people skills. Next time when 60 Minutes decides to send a pre-teen to conduct an interview they should send a guardian along with her. I would''ve like to have seen either Mike Wallace or even the late great Ed Bradley conduct this interview, I know the outcome would''ve been far more intellectually pleasing.

Watching Lara Logan was like watching a high school freshman gossiping about people, as for the distinguished journalist seeking the UNBIASED truth.. hhmm... nowhere to be seen.

I found Ms. Logan''s disrespectful nature, accusatory tone, and ignorance extremely poor and gross. I wonder how many people in America collectively scoffed. I will no longer watch any interviews conducted by Ms. Logan that deals in international affairs or anything else, I''ll flip the channel. Yes, I found her and the way she conducted that interview that insulting.

Watching that interview was like picking up a supermarket tabloid.

[pat731-2009]

As an American I was embrassed by the unprofessional conduct of the 60 minutes reporter. No matter what you may think of the man, he is a head of state. The reporter acted like a high schooler talking to a Joe on the street. It has been a few years since I have watch 60 minutes, your standards have dropped quite a bit. I can only imagine that you selected her based upon appearance vs ability. Sad.

[alveus1]

Ms. Bhuto''s death is newsworthy, and deserved the attention of 60 minutes. However, Ms. Logan, like several other western journalists who questioned President M was unprofessional, like the woman who accused him of having blood in his hands, when there is no evidence whatsoever. Just because you have a pretty face and have had the opportunity to sit in front of a camera, it does not mean that you can tarnish people at will, unless you work for some redneck rag. 60 minutes reporters ought to have more integrity. It was one of the dumbest interviews I have seen on 60 minutes. Same question being reported over and over... who cares if Musharaff was not friendly with Bhuto? Does that mean that he killed her? Do you think that all leaders (and people of ) developing nations go about killing their foes? How would Ms. logan feel if one were to ask whether she and her family were involved in killing south african blacks, merely because she is originally from South Africa?

[lisaannes]

I am certain that Lara Logan is doing her utmost as regards her craft, but the interview was sophmoric at best...for example, her query regarding Mr. Musharaff''s personal feelings for Ms. Bhutto was tawdry to say the least. She seemed almost feral in her pursuit of answers from the man. At one point, when she kept insisting that "terrorists" were on the Pakistan side of the border with Afghanistan, I thought he was most gracious in his patience with her obviously novice reporting style. I have always looked to 60 minutes for responsible journalistic formats, not childish, silly questions. I hope that she will improve. I thihk that she reveals promise. She seems well-intentioned, but a little too bright-eyed.

[rolf1028]

It would be nice if Ms.Logan would show the same disregard and disrespect for our Politicians. What ever your position on the Person/Topic is, you should not forget that you are interviewing the President of a independent nation.(In most cases a very well educated person) So do your background work, ask inteligent and tough questions and keep your Ego out of it.
Once again a great oportunity was lost to actually conduct a informative Interview with a President who finds himself in a quite difficult position. I would think that somebody at 60 Minutes during the editing process should have realised that this is below the standard 60 Minutes has always been trying to continue.

[dlp16]

Lara- Bless women who come along as beautiful and with as much clarity and depth of an interview as you. Your absolutely beautiful. I wish you a full life of happiness and great news reporting.Good Job with Musharraf- Daniel L.Phillips/thecrystaltomahawk.