Musharraf has Bhutto’s blood on his hands
December 30, 2007, 11:03 pm |
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By Andrew L. Jaffee
Just where was the security for Benazir Bhutto? In Rawalpindi, the military headquarters of the Pakistan Armed Forces, two men walked right up to Bhutto unchallenged and murdered her in cold blood. It is all on film, and completely contradicts the pathetic story being peddled by President Musharraf and his “government.” Musharraf was supposedly in charge of providing security for Benazir, under “martial law” no less. Bhutto’s blood is on Musharraf’s hands — he was head of Pakistan’s Armed Forces until a few days ago. After watching the video, it is indisputable that the assassination could have been easily prevented. Bhutto was Musharraf’s only viable election opponent. In light of the Channel 4 video, I now believe Pakistan’s “President” either explicitly ordered Bhutto’s execution, or passively allowed it to happen — same difference.
There are myriad reasons to suspect Musharraf’s involvement:
- An attempt was made on Bhutto’s life on the same day she returned to Pakistan.
- “… Media reports suggest that the police and rangers guarding checkposts around the exit gate of Liaquat Bagh, where Ms Bhutto addressed the rally, left their posts before Ms Bhutto’s vehicle drove out of the park. …”
- “…Miss Bhutto had informed David Milliband, the Foreign Secretary, and senior US officials that there was a plot against her life that involved key intelligence officials in the Musharraf regime. …”
- An Interior Ministry spokesman “…insisted she was not shot, even though his own boss, the caretaker Interior Minister, went on television immediately after the assassination to say Bhutto had been hit by bullets. …”
- “… Within minutes of her being killed, for example, high-pressure hoses were produced to wash the area clean. …”
- “… Critics also point to an ordinance passed by the Government just days before the killing that barred live coverage on television of all political meetings ahead of elections on January 8. This meant there was limited footage from Bhutto’s final rally - and much of it from official security cameras. Had TV networks been allowed to film they would have captured conclusive evidence about what happened. …”
Related: Dictator Watch, Pakistan, Corruption
January 3rd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Andrew,
The following is the comment I posted on Phyllis Chesler’s blog late last week. Seems like we’re on the same page.
Fern
Seems like the Bush administration has egg on their collective faces. After carefully crafting a rapprochement between Bhutto and Musharraf, they have yet to utter a word of criticism at Musharraf for the lax and ineffective security assigned to Ms. Bhutto. Most is most surprising, is that this silence comes only several months after an attempt on her life took place on the day that she arrived back in Pakistan, after eight years of exile.
Obviously, Bhutto represented a formidable challenge to Musharraf in the upcoming elections and he had every reason to sit back and do nothing, despite Bhutto’s pleas for increased security in the wake of the proliferation of death threats that she had received.
While, Musharraf may or may not have been directly involved in this heinous murder, it is clear that the blood of Ms. Bhutto is on his hands. Always cognizant of diplomatic sensitivities, the US is reticent to condemn Musharraf, while hailing him as stauch US ally and leader of the only stable western style democracy in the Muslim world. They were able to persuade him to exchange his military fatigues for a suit and tie, lest he be associated with the kind of military dictatorship that was responsible for the hanging of Ms. Bhutto’s father, another prime minister of Pakistan.
The people of Pakistan are outraged at Musharraf, and rightfully so for his ineptness. I think the US should join that chorus and demand a thorough, independent investigation of this cold blooded murder.
January 3rd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Also, according to a report that appeared on the Israel Today web site, it stated:
“The Hebrew daily newspaper Ma’ariv further revealed that Bhutto had asked Israel’s Mossad spy agency, along with the CIA and Britain’s Scotland Yard, to help protect her in the run-up to Pakistan’s January 8 election. Bhutto complained that current Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was trying to make her an easy target for assassination by now allowing her to use adequate protective measures.
According to the report, Israel’s Foreign Ministry was in favor of aiding Bhutto, though the government ultimately decided against it for fear of angering the Musharraf regime and upsetting relations with neighboring India, a close ally of Israel engaged in an ongoing bitter confrontation with Pakistan.”
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Musharraf is trying to “explain” what happened, and making himself look like a fool.