Friday, December 28, 2007

Benazir Bhutto Killed By Neo-Taliban Al Qaeda

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto has been claimed by Al Qaeda (via The Belmont Club and Bill Roggio in The Long War Journal) -- this after she had taken an an openly pro-Western stand since returning to Pakistan saying she would permit U.S. troops to hunt for Osama bin Laden in Pakistani territory and allow international investigation of nuclear proliferator, A. Q. Khan.

Al Qaeda's central command is taking credit for today's successful assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. A senior al Qaeda military leader in Afghanistan has contacted Syed Saleem Shahzad, a Pakistani journalist for the Asia Times and Adnkronos International with close connections to the Taliban and al Qaeda, and bragged about killing Bhutto.

"We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen," Mustafa Abu al Yazid, al Qaeda's commander in Afghanistan, told Mr. Shazad. The attack was reportedly ordered at the highest levels of al Qaeda.

"It is believed that the decision to kill Bhutto, who is the leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was made by al-Qaeda No. 2, the Egyptian doctor, Ayman al-Zawahiri in October," Mr. Shazad also reported. "Death squads were allegedly constituted for the mission and ultimately one cell comprising a defunct Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s Punjabi volunteer succeeded in killing Bhutto."

Andrew MacCarthy minces no words in exposing the face of the real enemy in Pakistan, where the Global Jihad threatens to become a nuclear power, strangely enough, on the strength of what some of our local "jihadists" might praise as "People Power" while managing to denigrate Democracy itself.

At the NRO Symposium on the assassination, Victor Davis Hanson is sobering, as usual:
Pakistan is a nuclear dictatorship, with a thin Westernized elite sitting atop a vast medieval Islamist badlands that it cannot control. Today’s events show that the very notion of a pro-Western politician coming to power legitimately is unlikely for the immediate future.

Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee, among others, have suggested that it’s about time to consider incursions into Pakistan to strike al-Qaeda. That would be like putting a needle into a doughboy: The problem is not a particular region, or a particular Pakistani figure, but Pakistan itself, founded as an Islamic state, and by nature prone to extremism. It is the most anti-American country in the region and we should accept that and move on.

Our relations were always based on the flawed idea its Islamic and autocratic essence made it a good bulwark against communist Russia and socialist India. But the world has changed, and we should too. It is long past time to smile and curtail aid — and quit arming it with weapons that are more likely to be used against our friend India as bin Laden.

I would imagine once most of the “reform” candidates are killed or cowered, the emboldened terrorist animals will turn on their government feeders — even as the Pakistani street somehow blames us.
The assassination is having an immediate effect on US electoral politics going into the crucial primary season.

12 comments:

john marzan said...

strangely enough, on the strength of what some of our local "jihadists" might praise as "People Power" while managing to denigrate Democracy itself.

bhutto vs musharraf is kinda like cory vs marcos, except that the so called pakistan elections in january might end up resulting like the so called election in "democratic" russia.

tito dean, people power is good, except when it is not. do ya really want pakistanis to "people power" when 46% of them approve of Osama bin laden. baka ma-control pa ng al queda ang nuclear pakistan.

john marzan said...

i guess al queda has "simplified" the choice for pakistan. it's now either the dictator musharraf, or the islamist, sharia lovin nawaz sharif. pick your poison.

there's no reason why elections won't push thru at this point from AQ's POV.

Deany Bocobo said...

John,
there's something almost Kennedyesque about this one...

john marzan said...

...or it could be the most successful AQ terrorist attack since the Golden Mosque bombing in Iraq last year which sparked a civil war.

Anonymous said...

Here are some more web log entries to consider:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3099884.ece

We should also recall connections between Musharraf as well as the ISI and the U.S., as well as the third paragraph in the Belmont entry, not to mention connections between the Taliban and the ISI.

john marzan said...

strangely enough, on the strength of what some of our local "jihadists" might praise as "People Power" while managing to denigrate Democracy itself.

your comment comparing the anti-arroyo opposition to the "jihadists" sounds a little batty. and calling pakistan a "democracy" is silly.

without the jihadists in 86, the US would still be supporting marcos vs the commies.

Amadeo said...

The assassination is having an immediate effect on US electoral politics going into the crucial primary season.

Though its effect on the primaries would not be considered very material. Right now, the one first-tier candidate that has gained somewhat because of his wide experience in national security and foreign relations has been Sen. John McCain.

When asked all the other candidates have not really given any answer that would enhance their candidacies. One even faltered blaming the current administration for the assasination, and mind you he belongs to the same party.

Anyway, predictably the BDS-afflicted fringe blogs had the same characterization.

I suppose to be a Bhutto in Pakistan is to be assured of a short life. Start with her father - hanged. Brothers killed. And now Benazir. Next? the husband maybe, he had anyway been incarcerated for many long years without any proved charges against him.

Anonymous said...

Also, consider the following sources from the U.S. government itself:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB97/index.htm

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB227/index.htm

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB97/index4.htm

Anonymous said...

Bhutto is just another power hungry B! She is no different from any other politician who wants power. All her posturing for US support is just like our very own Gloria, who by the way is DJBs' newly discovered or perhaps now realized idol.

A friend commented: why doesn't Gloria get the same medication? Another replied, she is too short to hit! Well I suppose being short (in more ways than one) has its advantages.

Anonymous said...

Typical 3rd World politics. Executions and murders happen in the PI during every election, but it doesn't make World news, the World just expects this stuff here.

Anonymous said...

Executions and murders happen in the Republika-Pilipinas every election but low-levels get killed so not CNN-newsworthy.
And it does not make sense to use the term "jihadist" for the 1986-oust-Marcos movement. Jihadists who fight for religion can just as soon turn on Lesbians-and-Gays, Baptists and Iglesia-ni-Kristo as it can on the local-Chinese and Tisoy-moneyed families.
If religion were to rule, there will be no democracy.

Anonymous said...

Here's something I found recently:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnychOXj9Tg