Musharraf: Bhutto Knew Of Risks

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

(CBS)  "Well, which other country has Osama bin Laden?" Logan replies.

"No, I challenge-- I don't accept that at all. There is no proof whatsoever that he is here in Pakistan," Musharraf says.

"But are you looking for him?" Logan asks.

"No, again, the same answer," Musharraf says. "We are not particularly looking for him but we are operating against terrorists and al Qaeda and militant Taliban. And in the process, obviously, it is combined, maybe we are looking for him also. Yes. If he's here?"

Musharraf was quick to blame Bhutto's assassination on al Qaeda, particularly a local extremist named Beitullah Mehsud, who operates out of Pakistan's lawless tribal region where both al Qaeda and the Taliban enjoy widespread support.

"Point two percent of our population is in South Waziristan and North Waziristan. Point two percent," Musharraf says.

"Well, that point two percent has be able to cause a lot of trouble," Logan remarks.

"Yes. We must not say that Taliban are in Pakistan. Pakistan, this is a frontier region. Two tribal agencies of Pakistan," Musharraf says.

"It's still inside Pakistan. Any way you look at it," Logan points out.

"But it's a small part the population and it is this population where they hide and they get support," Musharraf says.

"But they regrouped under…," Logan says.

"Yes, indeed," Musharraf says.

"…your watch?" Logan says.

"No, they regrouped because -- not under us. Because of Afghanistan. Okay?" Musharraf says.

"But under your term as president," Logan remarks.

"Yes. Yes, indeed," Musharraf acknowledges.

"They have regrouped and they are stronger than ever," Logan says.

"Well, Taliban. Yes. They may be. They may be getting stronger. I can’t say for sure," Musharraf says.

Asked if the U.S. shares any of the blame in this, Musharraf says, "Yes, of course. I mean everyone, the whole coalition should share the blame for not succeeding."

Of all the issues 60 Minutes discussed with Musharraf, the one that seemed to affect him the most personally, was about accusations that he may somehow have been involved in Bhutto's death.

"There have been suggestions among certain quarters, particularly amongst Benazir Bhutto's supporters, that you may have had a hand in her killing," Logan says.

"This is unfortunately a very baseless allegation. Nobody has a right to blame anyone for killing anyone unless they have the proof. I've lived in a family which believes in values - it believes in certain principles. It stands for character. And I stand for that," Musharraf says. "Why would I be informing her about all these intelligence reports that we have against her, the threat to her? Why would I be doing that? Why would I be concerned about telling her all this? 'Don’t go there, don’t do this, don’t do that.' So these are all indicators. I can't prove it legally, I can't prove my innocence legally. But I can prove it only through what I stand for as a person."

[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.