Benazir Bhutto assassinated

[PenforPrez]

CNN is confirming Benazir Bhutto is dead following a suicide bombing at a rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan today.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/pakistan.sharif/index.html

This is just horrible. :(

Paul

[wordsmith]

Yeah, this was on my newsfeeds when I woke up this a.m. As I was reading them, they changed from "Bhutto in critical condition" to "Bhutto assassinated."

[PenforPrez]

I've been sitting here for 45 minutes wondering whether I should cry in my cubicle or just sit in stony silence. I'm very upset about it; she did not deserve this at all. :cry:

Paul

[TinyDancer]

This has me very sad this morning as well. . . When I first turned on the TV, they said she was in surgery. . . when I heard that she was dead, I bolted out of bed.

What bad news. . .

[PenforPrez]

When I first turned on the TV, they said she was in surgery.

I had heard the same when I left for work this morning. But CNN says she was pronounced dead on arrival. :(

Paul

[J-girl]

I am really very sad this morning. She may have made some bad political moves but I think at the end of the day she did care about pakistan and not as much about power. Think about it, why would she come back to Pakistan in such turmoil times to run for election against all odds.

The world has lost a true states person.

RIP Bhutto.

[fuzmiq]

I had only heard about her recently, in Glamour magazine of all places. She seemed like an amazing woman.

The world is just a scary, scary place. So sad. RIP

[wordsmith]

I am really very sad this morning. She may have made some bad political moves but I think at the end of the day she did care about pakistan and not as much about power. Think about it, why would she come back to Pakistan in such turmoil times to run for election against all odds.

The world has lost a true states person.

RIP Bhutto.

Yes, I was saying on another forum...regardless of any controversiality, the woman had a tremendous amount of courage to return to a place very unsafe for her to be following exile, and stand up for her vision of democracy.

[PenforPrez]

Yes, I was saying on another forum...regardless of any controversiality, the woman had a tremendous amount of courage to return to a place very unsafe for her to be following exile, and stand up for her vision of democracy.

Exactly. The only thing she was guilty of was the feeling that her homeland could be a better, freer place.

Paul

[J-girl]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071018.wcobhutto18/BNStory/International

[Bman120]

It's a real tragedy. Though not really unexpected. She is a controversial figure in a country full of violence and turmoil. She had a lot of courage to put herself out there like she did, but took a great risk doing it.

All the more reason why the war on terrorism is serious business. These animals won't stop until they stamp out hope for the future over there. They moved another step closer to that today unfortunately.

[J-girl]

I wont be sure if its really the terrorists or al Qaeda. Seems like it is safe to blame Al Qaeda at this point, but she and her family has had other political enemies for the past two generations who have managed to wipe out her entire family. She belongs to a minority ethnic group in Pakistan, and most of pakistan's bureacrats (including musharraf) come from the majority Punjabi culture. She led the PPP political party but her sworn enemies came from the MQM.

Really could be anything and sadly the world will never know. It could be someone who probably thought that Pakistan is best under a military coup and not a democracy.

All speculations at this point.

[PenforPrez]

Musharraf is blaming al-Qaeda for the attack. I think it could have been anybody.

[Bman120]

Al-Qaida has the most to gain from this. And suicide bombers are right up their alley.

Musharraf doesn't win much getting rid of her like this. There were better ways that would have helped him. Killing her like this makes it more likely she will become a martyr and her shadow will be cast over Pakistan's political future.

Also had she won the election or just gained a powerful place in the next government, militants like Al-Qaida and the remains of the Taliban would loose.

[Krishna]

I'm sad to say I wasn't really surprised to see that she'd been assassinated. When she returned to Pakistan in October, I didn't even think she'd live to see the end of the month. The country is completely unstable, and she was quite controversial.

[PenforPrez]

The Times of India reports that the Pakistan government will postpone the general election, A new date is to be announced Monday local time.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Pakistan/Pakistan_polls_postponed/articleshow/2661237.cms

Bhutto's husband and 19-year old son have been named co-chairs of the Pakistan People's Party. Her husband has called the government's account of her death a lie. Musharraf's government has agreed to consider "possible international support" into their investigation into her death.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Pakistan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Paul