by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright December 27, 2007
All Rights Reserved.

rushing her skull on a sunroof handle from a suicide blast, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazair Bhutto completed her martyrdom, after warned repeatedly about death threats from Islamic radicals. When the 54-year-old Harvard and Oxford graduate Bhutto returned from exile in Dubai Oct. 18, she was almost hit by a suicide blast at a welcoming rally in Rawalpindi near Islamabad's Jinnah International Airport. Bhutto was evicted from office two times in 1990 and 1996, both for alleged corruption, taking kickbacks for lucrative government contracts. Her assassination shocked the international community and drove Pakistan closer to civil war. Only six short weeks ago, Pakistan's strongman Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended the constitution, jailed Supreme Court Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudry and declared emergency rule to hold onto power.

      Over last summer, power-sharing discussions to return Bhutto from exile collapsed, pushing her to defy Musharraf and return to Pakistan. Bhutto pressured Musharraf to step down as army chief Nov. 28, only to watch his hand-picked Election Commission rubber stamp the 64-year-old military dictator for another 6-year presidential term. Since Sept. 11, Musharraf was considered an ally by President George W. Bush in the war on terror, despite keeping U.S. Special Forces from getting al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden and Taliban's one-eyed Mullah Mohammed Omar in the tribal lands bordering Afghanistan. After 9/11, Musharraf was reportedly threatened by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to either cooperate with the U.S. or face a bombing campaign. Musharrf has given Bin Laden and the Taliban free reign in the ungoverned tribal lands.

      Bhutto's assassination came as no surprise inside Pakistan where she was warned repeatedly her life was threatened by extremists. Violent demonstrations erupted across Pakistan, using her death as a pretext for rioting. While popular with pro-Western sympathizers, Bhutto was loathed by 54% of the population opposed to Musharraf and sympathetic to Osama bin Laden. “The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy,” said Bush, an ironic statement considering the U.S. supports Musharraf's military dictatorship. With elections approaching Jan. 8, the government was concerned about losing power to Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party or to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League. Insiders suspect Musharif gave the green light to Islamic radicals to finish off Bhutto.

      Bhutto was loved in the West because of her glamorous appearance and Harvard and Oxford education. “I was deeply shocked and horrified to hear of her assassination,” said India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “In her death, the subcontinent has lost an outstanding leader who worked for democracy and reconciliation in her country,” concerned that Pakistan would be driven to more extremism. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown noted that “she risked everything in her attempt to win democracy in Pakistan and she has been assassinated by cowards who are afraid of democracy,” raising Pakistan's growing dilemma, namely, that 54% of the population supports Osama bin Laden, something clearly understood by Musharraf. When Bush and Brown speak of democracy, they're ignoring the reality that “democracy” would hand Pakistan over to Islamic extremists.

      When Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was voted into office August 6, 2005 with 64% of the vote, the world saw firsthand how democracy worked in the Islamic world. With Pakistan's nuclear arsenal at stake, free-and-fair elections carry inherent risks. Musharraf knows firsthand that Pakistan's Islamic population loathes the West, especially the U.S. and a free vote would elect a regime hostile to U.S. foreign policy. “The terrorists must not be allowed to kill democracy in Pakistan, and this atrocity strengthens our resolve that the terrorists will not win there, or anywhere in the world,” said Brown, wondering whether Musharraf gave the OK to Bhutto's assassination. Judging by the anarchy and violence in Pakistan, it's clear that Bhutto symbolized Western influence. Bhutto knew all the risks but continued to expose herself to grave danger and her eventual assassination.

      All fingers point toward al-Qaida or remnants of the Taliban in Bhutto's assassination. Over six years after Sept. 11 and Bin Laden and Omar remain untouched in the ungoverned South Waziristan region along the Afghan border. Musharraf has consistently interfered with U.S. Special Forces making an all-out push to find Bin Laden and the Taliban in the mountainous area bordering Afghanistan. Whatever Bhutto's faults, she symbolized Pakistan's long struggle with democracy, ending when Musharraf evicted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup Oct. 12, 1999. Since then, the U.S. supported Musharraf's military dictatorship as the best way to control Islamic extremism. Like in Iran, democracy put Hamas into power Jan. 26, 2006. Before the U.S. pulls the plug on Musharraf, they should consider Bhutto's dream of Pakistan's free-and-fair elections.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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