On Thursday, December 27, Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan and the current opposition party leader, succumbed to an assassin's bullet. Chaos has ensued.
Will this be a step backwards in efforts to restore democracy in nuclear Pakistan? I hope not, but Bhutto's assassination is not a good sign.
Benazir Bhutto was good for Pakistan and good for the world. She worked tirelessly to promote democracy in her country, and to stand up for the rights of the poor and the needy. This is in stark contrast to Pakistani President Musharraf's preferred method of governance by military dictatorship.
As the first woman ever elected to lead a Muslim state, Bhutto was also a symbol of progress for women's rights in the Islamic world.
With Bhutto's death, the human rights community has lost a strong and steadfast ally.
In response to the assassination, Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch said, "Benazir Bhutto was a democrat who believed in the supremacy of constitutional rule and, throughout her career, sought power through the ballot box. She died campaigning for votes and calling for a free election."
Amnesty International (AI) is calling on Musharraf's government to uphold the rule of law and the rules of democratic behavior in the aftermath of the Bhutto assassination. AI's Catherine Baber stated, "The killing of Benazir Bhutto must not be allowed to become a setback to civilian governance or indeed lead to a further crackdown on civil liberties."
My condolences go out to Bhutto's family and political followers.
May she rest in peace.
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http://www.maryshawonline.com
Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a focus on politics, human rights, and social justice. She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International, and her views appear regularly in a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. Note that the ideas expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with which she may be associated.
Mary although I agree this is a great tradegy and is certainly no help toward democracy, I must still point out that Bhutto's term in office was filled in corruption and the main reason she was ousted. Also her return to Pakistan was in fact an orchestration by George W. Bush. It was a three way deal actually. Musharraf agreed to drop corruption charges and let her return on the grounds that she support him and that he would make her his new prime minister. As we've seen she did not support him but instead led the opposition party.
Another interesting point is that Bush has scheduled an anti terrorist unit to be placed in Pakistan in 2008. This unit would train Pakistani military in counter terrorism, right out of the School of the America's. Would Bhutto have prevented this from happening? It's doubtful, especially since she in fact was sponsored by the Bush administration.
What is also interesting is that the money in the billions we have already sent Musharraf to counter al Qeada was used instead to bolster their missile defense program to counter their main rival and one of our allies, India. Yet Bush hardly even fussed over that!
I agree with you she was vulnerable and perhaps made even more vulnerable by Musharraf, her deal breaking with him did her no good. But obviously Bush also knew the possibilities when he orchestrated her repatriation. Her death brings about more questions than answers. For one, who does this assassination really help? Does it really help Musharraf? Al Qeada? Does this help Bush/Cheney and the neocons? We should certainly know that none of it helps Pakistan.
The problems with Pakistan began the day the US government decided to use them as a pawn in our anti Soviet containment policy. We gave them weapons, including nuclear weapons, we've supported their dictators, always looking for the short term fix to a long term problem. It is catching up with us now and unfortunately the peoples of Pakistan will suffer because of it. Will it lead to civil war and US military intervention? Could this in fact have been orchestrated to lead to this end? We don't know of course, but all of it is open to speculation.
To stabilize Pakistan for the Pakistani's is to allow them to govern themselves with new, innovative leadership and more importantly, without outside influence. Musharraf must go of course along with all of this "old school" philosophy which has led Pakistan to the brink of turmoil. Our influence hasn't helped them but rather hindered them and our support of Musharraf has led to the popularity of radical Islamic fundamentalism. Let's not forget who financed and backed the Taliban in the first place either!
It's very interesting how the US it seems, is supporting virtually every opposition leader along with Musharraf himself. This seems to indicate that we are willing to allow democratic elections there on our terms and our terms alone. What the Pakistani people have to say about it is apparently of little concern. Would Bhutto have changed this? I sincerely doubt it!
by
Michael Shaw (7 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 328 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 1:46:51 PM
. . . Benazir Bhutto as a champion of human rights and democracy. yeah, it's true she twice win the prime ministership in mostly free elections, but much of that was based on her father's name. Her father was a thoroughly corrupt politician, and the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
In American terms, the best comparison would be to Hillary Clinton. She won her Senate seat based on her husband's name, and while y'all might prefer her to President Bush (I certainly wouldn't!), the way you'd prefer Miss Bhutto to President Mussaraf, she'd be rather little change and thoroughly corrupt.
by
Dana Pico (5 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 142 comments)
on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 8:51:46 AM
Mushareff and Bush follow Dominio Theory Assassination
Anyone that knows anything about Bhutto's past must know that her father was once Prime Minster of Pakistan. His PPP party had most of its support in West Pakistan, the very location where the Halliburton Oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea goes through. http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761559914&pn=1
This site shows her fathers position on many issues with Pakistan. His name was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
In elections held in 1970, the pro-autonomy Awami League won by a landslide in East Pakistan, capturing enough parliamentary seats to control any government that might be formed. Bhutto’s PPP captured the majority of seats in West Pakistan. When Yahya and the PPP delayed the transfer of power to the newly elected representatives in March 1971, public unrest erupted in East Pakistan. East Pakistani leaders demanded the establishment of an independent nation of Bangladesh, and the Pakistani army cracked down brutally on civilians as well as on armed revolutionaries in East Pakistan. When India intervened in the civil war in December, the Pakistani army was swiftly defeated, and East Pakistan emerged as the state of Bangladesh. Yahya Khan resigned, and Bhutto was inaugurated as president and chief martial law administrator on December 20, 1971.
Also: On the international front, Bhutto resumed implementation of his policy of nonaligned neutrality. He withdrew Pakistan from the British Commonwealth of Nations and from the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), sponsored by the United States.
Now do we want to think his daughter followed her fathers same political ambitions. If so it is clear that she would have been against any pipline deal going through West Pakistan that benefited the West, namely the United States. If was to come to power, that would spell big troubles for Halliburton and the currrent Oil American Controllled Government. I believe she was killed to prevent this from happening, thereby Mushareff and the Bush Cabal have a clear hand in this assassination. Make no mistake she would have followed her fathers advice, and although he is dead, it is clear she became another casualty to the Oil Mafia in Pakistan.
by
Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments)
on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 8:54:59 PM
4 comments
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