Well.. that was short-lived (re: Pakistan)

Benazir Bhutto's return to Pakistan after brokering a deal with Musharraf ends with her assassination.

Scenario: Musharraf lures her back with the promise of new dealings and niceness... and then pays someone to shoot her.

R

she was stupid to think it wouldn't end this way and what was the point of martyring herself?

she should have stayed out of Pakistani politics for the sake of her kids

Agreed.

R

she obviously ran out of money, and needed to steal some more from the pakistani people

Wonder if this will speed up, delay or reverse pakistans decent.

Not sure if you're serious about the kids comment, if you believe in something worthwhile isn't it possible it is worth risking your life?

I think it was the US who was pushing for her to be there to lend some support to the non islamists. She may be even more effective now shes dead and it removes a possible conflict of non-Islamic power.

well she knew that she stood a good chance of being assassinated according to reports I have read not that she needed any reminding after that incident the first night of her return

it's all very noble and grand standing for an ideal such as democracy but that ideal has become tainted of late hasn't it?

her record doesn't look too good anyway but who are you to believe given the faction-ridden state of affairs in that country

Christopher Hitchen wrote a good article in Vanity Fair some years ago on Pakistan identifying it as the true test for the West of a nuclear armed failed state

worth a read that

I wonder what contingency plan the US has worked out with Musharraf re the nuclear arms a la the RSA transfer to majority rule

..should things really turn to custard

Howtf can returning to your home country which you ran for several years as prime minister specifically to mount a re-election challenge EVER be termed stupid? Appreciably dangerous, yes, but stupid is utterly the wrong term. Her father was hanged for doing what he believed was right and she died for what she believed in.
I certainly hope I have the moral fibre to do exactly that should the need ever arise. And I hope that my children will be be raised in a way that they would understand this too.

*Banned from the thread for using that laughable term.*

R

Heheh, what should I have used? Balls would have sufficed but sounds trite and doesn't give the impetus it deserves; moral fibre is exactly what one displays when showing the strength of conviction and the simple courage to risk one's life for one's beliefs

well I for one question her motives

I can understand that. Makes sense given the allegations that were thrown around; whether you believe dictator a threw them around to get more power initially or whether you believe that they were justified and were only rescinded years later by dictator b to strengthen HIS power base, there is definitely confusion.
Regardless it doesn't change the fact that she was seen by most as a moderate influence and a voice of reason in an otherwise volatile political landscape.

which is precisely why she needed to keep her head down

Ahh, the voice of "reason."

Just like Neville Chamberlain back in the 1930s. Let's not be too hasty about this Hitler fellow! Let's not do anything dangerous. That Churchill is a warmonger! Don't be hasty, that's my motto.

She knew she was going to be assassinated, and she went gladly to her death because she BELIEVED in her cause. That is glory, that is honour, that is a tale that will ring down the ages! To go knowingly to one's death for ideology - to lay down one's life not merely for a fellow man, but for an idea - that is the greatest of human achievements. It is what separates us from the animals.

To walk gladly into the Valley of Death... Bhutto knew. She knew. And she did not stint. She could have lived a comfortable life overseas, been the elder stateswoman of Pakistani politics, got rich from anonymous donors, sent her children to private schools - but she did not choose the comfortable path. She chose the right path.

You think? Maybe you're getting her mixed up with Indira Gandhi - someone who did actually matter .

Bhutto was voted in twice - both times marred with scandals, corruption, nepotism and complete lack of achievement. She was not really loved, she was just the alternative to to Musharraf which doesn't really say much. It's like choosing to eat a dead rat instead of a dog shit.

She may have died gallantly but I'm sure she would much have preferred to live.

R

I had a bit of an "oh wait" moment today. Look at the state of the rest of the worlds politics. Its a bit precious to get too wound up over some nepotism.

Cash for knighthoods in the UK
Big business and the US govt
Fields in NZ
Fiji
Zimbabwe
Venezuela
etc

for those with the time

Why Islam must modernise or die: Bhutto

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10494029

Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud has been charged with planning the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and declared an absconder, Agence France-Presse reported March 1, citing Pakistani police. The Pakistani government and the CIA both accused Mehsud, who is linked to al-Qaeda and based in South Waziristan. The charge comes after five other individuals have been arrested in the Bhutto case.

lol of course it was Al Queda