Benazir Bhutto assassinated in Pakistan, picture of killer

[dontbelievethehype1970]

What evidence is there that it was a suicide bomb?

[gareth]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7161590.stm

[EmptyBee]

So I just caught a bit of news 24 in my lunch break and there's been an (apparently successful) assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, and the BBC had an expert on to talk about the political situation in Pakistan while the news continued to come in. The name of the expert was Michael somebody...Anyway he was actually quite frank about some of the implications of this attack, and the people who might be responsible. In particular, some of the people Mrs Bhutto claimed were responsible for the previous attempt on her life and the source of continued threats, namely the Pakistani military and in particular members of the ISI: the Inter Services Intelligence agency - Pakistan's MI5/FBI/internal spooks. He also mentioned the significance of this "security breach" occurring at the epicentre of Pakistani military power (Rawalpindi).

He actually referred to the "strategy of tension, an Italian term" (alluding to Operation Gladio).

Now Gladio was behind many terrorist acts in Europe, especially Italy in the 70s and early 80s. The purpose of Gladio was to marginalise the left and foster authoritarianism. Communists were blamed for the terrorism when it was in reality the actions of facists covertly trained and directed by the CIA; i.e. a false flag operation. This policy was known as the strategy of tension.

The implication was quite clear - that the ISI may be involved in a similar strategy in Pakistan today, and that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was conceivably part of such a strategy aimed at perpetuating the state of crisis in Pakistani politics and preventing a (properly contested) election that might undermine the power of the military.

This was shortly before the official line was asserted; that this bombing was down to a failure by Musharraf to control the radicals in Pakistan (i.e. not being authoritarian enough!)

I just thought that was interesting - a credible expert on the BBC acknowledging that the Pakistani military might be implicated in acts of terrorism blamed on radicals.

[Frazzel]

thats very sad. she was seen by many muslim women as a role model for muslim women. its a pity she went back to pakistan where her assasination was most likely to happen.

[Linda]

It is said she was shot twice before the explosion.

( it was only a matter of time before she was killed, it has been the plan all along to cause more friction and terrorism)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_ article_id=504732&in_page_id=1811&ct=5

[mr nice]

Just watched the bbc1 news report and I have to say I'm shocked how transparent the propaganda is now
they have a clip of her saying she thinks the last assassination attempt was the responsibility of people within the current administration,this accusation is then dropped as bush is given platform to talk about al ki ee da turr ists and the rest of the "report" is driving home the "fact" that the responsibility lies with extreme islamists .
She knew exactly who her enemies were.Hopefully a journalist or 2 with some profile will do some real work on this one instead of just parroting the official nonsense

[Lee]

They've just interviewed her cousin and he's saying that he holds Musharraf responsible directly.

[blackbear]

William M. Arkin U.S. Troops to Head to Pakistan

Beginning early next year, U.S. Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency forces and clandestine counterterrorism units, according to defense officials involved with the planning.

These Pakistan-centric operations will mark a shift for the U.S. military and for U.S. Pakistan relations. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the U.S. used Pakistani bases to stage movements into Afghanistan. Yet once the U.S. deposed the Taliban government and established its main operating base at Bagram, north of Kabul, U.S. forces left Pakistan almost entirely. Since then, Pakistan has restricted U.S. involvement in cross-border military operations as well as paramilitary operations on its soil.

But the Pentagon has been frustrated by the inability of Pakistani national forces to control the borders or the frontier area. And Pakistan's political instability has heightened U.S. concern about Islamic extremists there.

According to Pentagon sources, reaching a different agreement with Pakistan became a priority for the new head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, Adm. Eric T. Olson. Olson visited Pakistan in August, November and again this month, meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen. Tariq Majid and Lt. Gen. Muhammad Masood Aslam, commander of the military and paramilitary troops in northwest Pakistan. Olson also visited the headquarters of the Frontier Corps, a separate paramilitary force recruited from Pakistan's border tribes.

Now, a new agreement, reported when it was still being negotiated last month, has been finalized. And the first U.S. personnel could be on the ground in Pakistan by early in the new year, according to Pentagon sources.

U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. William Fallon alluded to the agreement and spoke approvingly of Pakistan's recent counterterrorism efforts in an interview with Voice of America last week.

"What we've seen in the last several months is more of a willingness to use their regular army units," along the Afghan border, Fallon said. "And this is where, I think, we can help a lot from the U.S. in providing the kind of training and assistance and mentoring based on our experience with insurgencies recently and with the terrorist problem in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think we share a lot with them, and we'll look forward to doing that."

If Pakistan actually follows through, perhaps 2008 will be a better year.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/12/musharrafs_woes_ha ve_opened_a.html#more

[Linda]

President Bush, the terrorist who has been involved in the slaughter of at least a million people has the nerve to say:

'The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy. Those who committed this crime must be brought to justice.'

( what a hypocryt this mad man is)

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who supported policies that have killed at least a million people, says:

'Benazir Bhutto may have been killed by terrorists but the terrorists must not be allowed to kill democracy in Pakistan and this atrocity strengthens our resolve that terrorists will not win there, here or anywhere in the world.'

( you can't make it up this is Kennedy all over again. An assassination planned by the biggest load of hypocryts trying to control the world)

(She was a sacrificial Lamb, who said she would die for her cause, so in the killers eyes she unknowingly consented to it.)



Who benefits? President Pervez Musharraf - or rather the military-controlled, US-controlled, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that was also heavilly involved in 9/11 (see The David Icke Guide To The Global Conspiracy).

http://www.davidicke.com/content/blogcategory/30/48/

[Thermate911]

Perhaps this very sad moment will prompt some to re-examine Brzezinski's Grand Chessboard, where all is made clear by this CFR insider?

They are that certain their global hegemony will succeed...

Happy New Year...
.

[zimboy69]

since the death some hours ago of Benazir Bhutto ive been thinking how much of the bigger picture is pakistan involved

if i remember right most of 9/11 money came from pakistan
and a number of terrorists have come from there and with bhutto death
i wonder whats going on are we going to see the next big terrorist attack
if extreame muslims get in control of pakistan then we all got a big problem, terrorists with nukes
somthing dont feel correct with the way there reporting bhutto death i cant put my finger on it but it just dont feel correct

if anyone else is feeling somthings not correct or knows any more connections with pakistan can they please post them here somthing is not right with this story
i think we are going to see somthing really big happen there very soon

[paul wright]

Ordo ab Chao
I don't know whether Benazir was good or bad Just that this will up the ante once again from the so-called suicide bomber . Was there a crater in the road from the bomber?Always a good significator as to the origin

[kbo234]

Could be.

The opposition in Afghanistan operates out of Pakistan. There have been many stories on 'alternative' news about the grave concerns the USA and Israel have about who controls Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and nukes possiblly
going missing from that arsenal.

It is impossible to guess what is really going on with the Bhutto assassination. It could be a straightforward opposition hit or it could be the first strike of forces with a more complex plan to create chaos and then take advantage of some it or some further chaos already planned and in the pipeline.

The thing is that the western powers really want to control Pakistan. They might be trying to create an excuse to invade the country or simply want to further violate the Muslim world and fan the flames of the 'War on Terror'.

Maybe someone out there has been watching subtle developments over the past weeks and can enlighten us on these matters.

These are very dangerous days for all of us, never mind Pakistan.

[Caz]

I am tired of the talk of democracy. Kuwait was supported in the first gulf war (not a democracy), Saudi Arabia friends with Bush and co (not a democracy), olympics in China next year (not a democracy), the US working with Musharaff to counter terrorism, not a democracy, in Australia the Governor General still has the power to dismiss a government (as Whitlam was dismissed in the 1970s by Governor General John Kerr) so not a democracy, the Queen is required to open parliament every year in the UK (if she doesn't??) so not a democracy, US elections reportedly rigged, so not a democracy.

It's getting tedious.

[rodin]

I read that live coverage had Bhutto inside her (bulletproof) car, when a bomb goes off, all cameras train on that. Next we hear she is not hurt. Then she is wounded head and neck - not sure if bullets or shrapnel.

The narrative told by her security adviser was - the bomber shot her then blew himself up.

Which sound more likely?

Yup

Bomb planted in crowd for distraction

Assassin clinically takes out Bhutto - someone on the inside

Go back to 1995

I started a thread @ GIM with much detail but GIM is down. However Tom Henigan is on the case here

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2007/12/898606.shtml

wrh on it as well

Bhuttos security adviser was around in 1995 and there is a MOSSAD connection from back then

Anyone catch Jemima Goldsmith slagging off Bhutto and saying 'before she becomes a martyr'. About August this year, broadsheet

[TmcMistress]

You know... I was kind of hoping that it would be at least a day before this woman's assassination fell victim to baseless theorizing. With the exception of the early hours after the assassination, a time when things are always chaotic and details unsure, the media has consistently reported that she was shot in the neck and possibly hit by shrapnel from the explosion.

There's an argument to be made that Musharraf may have had something to do with this. There is also an argument that he didn't. There is NO evidence that this was an 'inside the car' job. And it'd be a miracle if a story like this came along without instantly, miraculously becoming part of some Machiavellian superstructure on here.

[EmptyBee]

The BBC is now calling speculation that Musharraf had a hand in Bhutto's death "conspiracy theory". What a difference a day makes.

Meanwhile there are riots and strikes in Pakistan. Bhutto's supporters don't seem to be in any doubt as to who was responsible.

[Alexander]

Ralph Schoenman did an interesting two-part interview with the BBC's Pakistan correspondent a few weeks ago where he was able to speak much more freely than ever would be permissable on dear Old Auntie.

The two programes were broadcast on the 6th and 13th November if you're interested. Here's the archive...
http://takingaimradio.com/shows/audio.html

[EmptyBee]

To get some understanding of the political situation in Pakistan you first have to understand who the main factions are.

Firstly there is the military. The military is almost like an aristocracy in Pakistan, they own tremendous amounts of Pakistan in land and businesses. They have been the dominant force in Pakistani politics ever since the partition with India. Their secret police/intelligence agency, the ISI has worked hand in glove with MI6 and the CIA - during the 80s the ISI were instrumental in channeling arms to and training the mujahadeen that fought the soviets in Afghanistan. They were the main force behind the emergence of the Taliban as a political force in Afghanistan.

Regarding 9/11: Lt General Mahmoud Ahmad, the head of the ISI at the time of 9/11 was in the US on the week of 9/11 and was meeting with important military on 9/11 itself. Ahmad later resigned following revelations in The Times of India that the $100,000 wired to Mohammed Atta via Omar Saeed Sheikh was done on his orders. Musharraf has since claimed Saeed Sheikh was an MI6 agent. Saeed Sheikh is still in jail for his part in the murder of Daniel Pearl the Wall Street Journal reporter who was investigating al Qaeda (and alleged links between al Qaeda and the ISI) in Karachi in 2002.

The relationship between the military and the Islamists is not straightforward. The Islamists have been used as pawns by the military in Afghanistan and more recently in Kashmir. However, the politics of Islamism is potentially threatening to the military as Islamists desire theocratic government, not military dictatorship (or democracy for that matter). Islamist violence within Pakistan is however the perfect excuse for the military to maintain an iron grip on the reins of power, as well as having the effect of alienating the majority of moderate Pakistanis from the Islamist cause. It makes perfect sense therefore for Musharraf to be undertaking a "strategy of tension" (i.e. a false flag terror campaign) in order to shore up military power. There have been apparent attempts on Musharraf's life - this is best understood as blowback in my opinion.

The main threat to Musharraf's power does not come from political Islamism however - it comes from the liberals, the judiciary, the lawyers and the civil rights activists. It is against these groups that Musharraf had concentrated his repressive measures during his spurious "state of emergency".
Benazir Bhutto (and her husband) may have had a track record of political corruption but they represented the only real electoral opposition to Musharraf. Now it may be that Bhutto had backers in the West, and that there was a desire for Pakistan to become more democratic; its good PR for the War on Terror, after all if the stated goal of spreading democracy has a token success here and there. But given the official reaction to the assassination in the US and UK - that this was "al Qaeda" and Musharraf needs to "restore order" - it seems Musharraf has little cause for concern regarding his (at least public) support from Washington or London.

[xmasdale]

Neocons and the West too quick to blame 'Al Qaeda' and 'terrorists' for Bhutto assassination


Cem has sent us this


http://lataan.blogspot.com/2007/12/neocons-and-west-too-quick-to-blame -al.html

[rodin]

[rodin]

[Thermate911]

[ian neal]

According to the Mirror it was al qaeda wot done it. Glad that's solved

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2007/12/28/al-qaeda-bomber-kil ls-bhutto-89520-20267154/

But then that is the whole message of 9/11. According the official version Pakistan was at the heart of 9/11 but where does al qaeda finish and the ISI start and where does the ISI finish and the CIA start.

Bhutto's assassination serves the interests of the hawks on both 'sides' but since both 'sides' join up in the shadows, there is only really one side

[Riaz Ahmed]

This is becoming beyond a joke now!

al-Qaeda assassination?

I have seen the footage of the assassination. Just like the crime scene of Diana, they bought in the workman and hoses and washed away the crime scene, in half an hour. Slack secrurity! You can see right through this - ISI in bed with Americans!

And now they blame it on Al-Qaeeda, with this lousy transcript of Baitullah Mehsud in which he allegedly congratulated another militant after Bhutto's death. Its an open and shut case for Musharaf's regime. Brush it under the carpet.

This kind of evidence is NOT worth a jott in court.

[landless peasant]

BBC saying she ducked inside her car and hit her head on the sunroof leaver and died.
She was not shot.
Pakistan saying Al ciada was involved.
Brown to step up terror,, ops anti terrorism measures...

[TonyGosling]

Musharraf must go because he won't bomb Iran like Messrs. Bush and Cheney want him to.

She was the West's candidate and the MI6 choice for Pakistani president. It does seem to me that Benazir may well have lost January's elections. What would that say for Western influence in Pakistan if the people voted no?

It's the same old story, "you can have democracy so long as you vote for us" that is the message of the idiotic and psycopathic WoT Neocons and their grubby mates.


btw - I jusat merged another two bhutto topics in here from the bigger picture... and since the official cause of death is gunshot wounds I've changed the headline from 'killed in bomb attack'. If you feel this is inaccurate please say so here and PM me and/or other mods.

[paul wright]

[paul wright]

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2007/281207_blame.htm
Of course it isn't Musharaff, but forces way beyond

[zimboy69]

ive just heard on the news
that shots were fired and she was pulled down in to the car and caught her self on the door handle of the roof which killed her

they didnt know if she was blown on to the handle by the explosion at this time


and was reported on bbc radio 4 around 10 ish