Musharraf: Bhutto Knew Of Risks

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

(CBS)  Musharraf also thinks Bhutto made a mistake by going to the area where she was killed, where a former prime minister had previously been assassinated. And it wasn't the first time Bhutto had tried to hold a rally there.

"We again had intelligence that this is a dangerous place and there's a likelihood of a suicide attempt. We asked her not to go," Musharraf says. "She insisted she will go. We stopped her. And we got such a poor - flak - we got flak from all over the world, from media, from Western media."

"From the U.S.?" Logan asks.

"From everywhere," Musharraf explains.

The night of the assassination, Musharraf believes Bhutto broke a basic rule of security in a crowded charged political rally: to be particularly careful when leaving.

"She should have just gone and moved fast, gone and waved, yes. But if you're standing and -- because you are vulnerable. You're vulnerable and people are charging," Musharraf says. "And all the film that you see, people are charging. Now, when people are there by the hundreds swarming around you, this man is one of them. Who can check these people at that stage?"

"And the mistake she made, if I understand you correctly, was stopping?" Logan asks.

"Yes. But then the mistake was not that," Musharraf says. "I mean, God was kind -- she went into the car in spite of the fact that she was waving and all that. She did go into the car. Now is the point. Why did she stand outside the car?"

"Why did she stand up in the hatch?" Logan asks.

"Entirely. Who's to blame?" Musharraf replies.

Asked who is to blame, Musharraf says, "Only she."

"So Benazir Bhutto, in your words, should bear some responsibility for what took place for her own death?" Logan asks.

"For standing up outside the car, I think it was she to blame alone. Nobody else. Responsibility is hers," Musharraf says.

"Don't you think it will make her supporters crazy to hear you say that?" Logan asks.

"Well, I don't think so. I mean, that's the fact. She shouldn't have stood up," Musharraf says.

"Just so I'm clear, even with the benefit of hindsight, you feel that your government, you and your government, did everything possible to give Benazir Bhutto the security she needed?" Logan asks.

"Yes, absolutely," Musharraf says. "She had the threat. So she was given more security than any other person."

Musharraf conceded that Bhutto's return was a bitter pill to swallow. It was part of a deal engineered by the Bush administration after a year of political unrest and extremist violence in Pakistan.

"There was a year of secret negotiations; the United States administration has made their views very clear. President Bush endorsed Bhutto's return, Condoleezza Rice, they had top State Department officials meeting with her. You yourself went to Dubai and met with her twice," Logan says.

"Well, yes. All this was going - you seem to be well-informed. Very good. Yes it was happening, I agree," Musharraf acknowledges.

"One of the reasons Benazir Bhutto had such popularity amongst top U.S. officials is that she cast herself as the person who would take action against al Qaeda. Who would go into the tribal areas. Who would get Bin Laden. Who would do all the things that she said you were not doing," Logan says.

"No. Now, again, these are misperceptions of American thinking. All American media, some officials who don't know Pakistan," Musharraf responds.

"So what are you doing to find Osama bin Laden? What is Pakistan doing? What end are you actually still today - seven years - under you…," Logan asks.

"We are…fighting terrorism. And we are fighting extremism," Musharraf says.

"But the question is really within that fight against extremism, what are you doing - if you like - to find Osama Bin Laden?" Logan asks. "That's what Americans want to know."

"Okay. We are fighting first of all al Qaeda. Let's take al Qaeda. We have arrested or eliminated about 700 al Qaeda leaders. Only Pakistan has done it. And lately also whoever has been killed or arrested, I challenge -- who else, which other country has done this?" Musharraf asks.

[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.