a True Crime

Inside Job? Could be, i.e. the classic step-aside by insider security forces for the outsider assassin to get too close. Or even an Indira Ghandi situation where the trusted boyguards, all Sikhs, conspired, dying themselves in the act, killed by their fellow sikhs.

My suggestion in is derived from reading the "Who Killed Benazir Bhutto" instant analysis online report from The TIMES of London, that can be read here:
http://tinyurl.com/35pwee

That it COULD be Islamist elements within the Pakistani ISI is strongly suggested by the following:
(1) killer had gun AND was rigged with bombs {overkill},
(2) thus armed, he still got through state security near the car, OR was led around & through it,
(3) professionalism of the hit was that she was shot first in the neck & chest. In either sequence, the second shot was designed to kill if somehow the first shot missed. Maintaining the focus to do that in a choatic sequence strongly implies training, as well as motivation;
(4) cover-up of the hit was the use of the bomb to blow up hitman, and hopefully Bhutto too, if again the shooter somehow missed. Also it causes immediate panic that allows any attendant "helpers" to get away. Heck, the helpers likely DID have the trigger device for the bomb--hear the shots, hit the button.

However, it must be noted that two of bin Ladin's terrorists carried out a similar sophisticated suicide attack against a key Afghanistan pro-Western leader on Fri or Sat, 9/7 or 9/8 2001. They used the pretext of a European paper interview (one of them passed as Euro) to get close in the mountains. This event was indeed the kick-off of bin Ladin's 9/11 campaign. I remember reading about in the next days NYT and wondering, as bin ladin's name came up in the article, what the heck that was all about.**

Still, given the elements that had to be brought together on relatively short notice to kill Bhutto, it is much more likely this was a ISI hit. Elements within the ISI are believed to know PRECISELY where bin Ladin is in the western mountains. So, it could indeed be a joint ISI & bin Ladin action.


** [Me, a simple American citizen living in the NE, reading the Times as I always do, catching a name (bin Ladin) I remembered from a July 2001 article in The Atlantic, and wondering, now what was all that about. Which is why I do not forgive the CIA senior directors, Bush, Rice nor Cheney. I smelled a rat but had no further context into which to place it. They did.]
Robert M. | 12.27.07 - 5:57 pm | #

the True INTERNATIONAL Crime to come

And the objective of murdering Bhutto is for the ISI Islamists and their al-Queda partners

[its a partnership as there are specific diveging interests; the former are not Talebanists, they appreciate certain creature comforts but then as Muslim males they deserve such, and likely are not too keen on bin Ladin's New Caliphate]

total control over Pakistan's nuclear weaponry development system.

Yes, for bin Ladin to take his next steps toward the New Caliphate, he needs a nuclear bomb, and he needs to have it protected a nation state.

Killing Bhutto is all about bringing control over

an A-bomb

and its associated technology a step closer to being in the hands of the US's most determined for-the-long-haul opponents

(which are not the Iranians who as Persians have no intellectual or emotional ties to bin Ladin's motivating vision).

So you see, invading Iraq was invading the wrong country as we weren't really sure if Saddam had a True WMD, despite what Cheney made himself believe (because he had no doubts over the rightness of his own vision),

but we knew, as the Pakistanis's openly admitted,

that Pakistan had The TRUE WMD.

But of course through coup upon coup, their leadership has declared themselves to be "friends" of the USA.

Some leadership.

Some friends.

Some danger.

Be very afraid about this situation.
Robert M. | 12.27.07 - 6:00 pm | #

Robert, I believe your analysis is spot-on here. I think there was a strong insider element in this assassination. Analyze a typical Secret Service phalanx guarding the prez or any high-level official who qualifies for such protection then examine the cadre of guards Bhutto had. There were gaps everywhere in the cordons of men surrounding her. This wasn't a lack of professionalism, imho -- this was someone expecting something.

I have begun to agree with those who say Pakistan (incidentally, I have been close to people of both Indian and Pakistani extraction in the past, so this is an area of world politics I'm a little more aware of than usual) is one of the most dangerous countries on the planet. Right now, you're right -- it's more dangerous than ever, and this is a bellewhether event that Americans and westerners in general ignore at their peril.

Let's welcome the dark and early dawn of 2008 and hope it isn't as traumatically eventful as 1968 apparently was. I'm afraid it will be, though -- and then some.
Steve Huff | Homepage | 12.27.07 - 9:22 pm | #

I knew this would happen. Just a matter of time. Terrorists did it. Nothing in it for anybody else.

Terrorists got exactly what they wanted. Sorrow and uproar, burning busses, people with big hopes suffering another devastating backlash,rioting the streets, no longer screaming to the trees in the backyard which used to be the only free speach there ever was.

So much hope, such a big disappointment. 5 feet forward, 10 feet backward.

I honestly feel the pain of the Pakistani people. I honestly do.
kirsti | 12.28.07 - 12:22 am | #

One has to wonder how much the Pakistani Govt. are involved.
blimeyhecks | 12.28.07 - 5:58 am | #

I'm glad this is being discussed here. This is so important to understand. Well said Robert, the terrorists/Islamo-fascist have clearly set their sites on Pakistan and its atomic bomb. It's a complex place. If you wanna read a fantastic book about the inner workings of Pakistan I highly recommend "Who Killed Daniel Pearl?" By Levy. It's essentially a true crime book and one of the best I've ever read. The prose is beautiful and tight.

Bhutto's assassination really bothers me on so many levels. It was most certainly Al Qaeda with ISI involvement and perhaps Musharaff complicity. The ISI is also in charge of the nation's nuclear arsenal. Some members of the ISI support Musharraf, some support the terrorists- this country is up for grabs. Bhutto was alive and beautiful one minute and dead the next. Everyone knew she was THE target and everyone including herself just let the terrorists take her. I feel like she was thrown to the wolves. Maybe she threw herself, I don't know- but attention must be paid.

I think our 08 candidates should have secret service protection after the Primary. I fear the next attack will be a simultaneous attack on both candidates. But even with Secret service protection they will be difficult to protect.

Evil is in our midst and for some reason the fact that it's being discussed by the good people here gives me some comfort. Sounds corny I know, but whatev.
tellurstorywalkin | 12.29.07 - 1:17 am | #

I just keep having the somewhat vague feeling that this assassination was a bellwether event -- a harbinger of things to come in 2008. What those things will be, no one knows, but I have a larger fund of vague, free-floating anxiety about the world in general at the moment than I usually do.

I'm even listening to Coast to Coast AM again. That can't be good. (They're going off about RFID chips tonight -- a tinfoil-hat issue I don't buy into worrying about, personally.)
Steve Huff | Homepage | 12.29.07 - 1:33 am | #

Here is a link to the transcript of the alleged telephone conversation from senior al-Qa'eda leader Baitullah Mehsud to another militant said to have been intercepted after the assassination.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/.../28/ wpak228.xml

Within the transcript 3 individuals are named whom are said to have carried out the attack. It will be interesting to see if the photographs of the assassination reveal these individuals to indeed be the ones responsible, adding to the the legitimacy of the transcript and the focus on Mehsud.

Here is a link to Court TV's profile of Baitullah Mehsud.

Part 1

http://www.crimelibrary.com/ news...h_mehsud_1.html

Part 2

http://www.crimelibrary.com/ news...h_mehsud_1.html

In Part 2, Mehsud's interest in Khan's nuclear network and intense hatred of Bhutto is worth noting.
tellurstorywalkin | 12.29.07 - 3:42 pm | #

Steve . . . I hear ya . . . been feeling the same.
Andie | 12.29.07 - 4:46 pm | #

Nat Schlesinger killed his brother Jack, he stole all his money and then burned the place down
Jody | 12.31.07 - 2:31 pm | #

Now her son is going to be the next leader of the party. He is only 19. Bhuttos' really have a cause, it seems.But what is it, really?

Just wish somebody knows. If YOU know, please answer me: What is the Bhuttos' dream for Pakistan?
kirsti | 12.31.07 - 10:09 pm | #

"Just wish somebody knows. If YOU know, please answer me: What is the Bhuttos' dream for Pakistan?"

Obviously it's not democracy.

It's dynasty and revenge.
Sparrow | 01.01.08 - 3:54 am | #

Kind of got that, sparrow. Thanks for your answer. Benazir's father got hanged.

She got murdered, somehow, we still don't know how or who.

From what I understand her two brothers got killed too.

I know all these things. I still don't know what the Bhutto's want for Pakistan.

Are they warlords? I know it's not PC to ask, but sometimes you do anyway.

Just want to know..
kirsti | 01.02.08 - 1:59 am | #

She wanted Democracy. She was elected Prime Minister twice (first woman elected head of Muslim state) and was removed from office both times because of alleged corruption. She and her husband had amassed an enormous amount of wealth. She was in many ways the typical politician with many motives. But she was very pro-west and wanted to work with the US to help capture Bin Laden and eliminate the Taliban and al Qaeda forces in the tribal regions of Afghanistan. Also, she wanted AQ Khan, the infamous Pakistani nuclear proliferater to answer to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association) and disclose his secret network of international nuclear deals- currently he is "under house arrest" and is basically being protected by President Musharraf. Hope this helps Kirsti.
tellurstorywalkin | 01.02.08 - 5:29 pm | #

well, the son became the leader of the party a couple of days after her death. That bothers me. Reminds me more of a dynasty than a dream of democracy.

Still I think she was a very intelligent woman, thank you tellurstorywalkin!
kirsti | 01.04.08 - 2:21 am | #

Kenya is burning.
Taliban still well and alive in Afganistan.
Shias and Sunnis still killing each other in Iraq.
Turkey attacked pkk(Kurds).
Gaza and Westbank still has no peace.
Somalia is a mess, and Mugabe still rules Zimbabve.
Nigerians still fight for rights to benefit from their natural resoursces. Which is oil. BP and Chevron won't have it. They won't share, i mean.
Oh, lets not forget about Burma.
And now Pakistan..

All I have heard about this day is poor ill Britny Spears. I get the feeling I'm supposed to applaude the cruel people who taped her agony as she is stuck to a guerny. For everybody to see. Everybody watched, too. When did sick people become entertainment?

My biggest worry in the world is supposed to be something called internett-trolls.

I say no more. Not tonight. I just don't get it. That's all. It's like I can feel my heart way down in my stomack.
kirsti | 01.05.08 - 4:26 am | #

If Pakistan were truly democratic, then the first thing they'd vote for would probably be war against the USA. Democracies probably DO sometimes fight wars with one another.
Durkastan | 01.07.08 - 12:49 pm | #

I do understand the concept of civil wars, although in my culture we resolve that by having democratic elections.

My country was occupied by the Germans. There was traitors, like Quisling and his gang. Quisling was executed after the war, because he had conspired with Hitler to take over our country.

If your country gets occupied, you are not supposed to like it very much.. anywhere. Cause that's not freedom.
kirsti | 01.07.08 - 10:40 pm | #

Durkastan: Why do you think so?

The reason for my former post is that Hitler was elected by the German people. If he had won WW 2 there would be no end to civil war in Europe. Luckily we got help from US.

The new leader of PPP, the 19 year old son of Benazir, plans to finish three more years of edu in England.

There is something here I just don't get.
kirsti | 01.08.08 - 7:28 pm | #