Mother Talkers

Benazir Bhutto 1953-2007

by 1plain1peanut

Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 07:23:06 AM PDT

I am crestfallen. Thank you for the tribute, Hilary. -Elisa

Benazir Bhutto was just assassinated at a campaign rally at the entrance to the compound where the rally was being held.  Then, the killer used a suicide bomb which also added to the confusion of the scene.  

From the NY Times:

Ms. Bhutto was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Rawalpindi at 6:16 p.m. after the doctors had tried to resuscitate her for thirty-five minutes. She had shrapnel injuries, the doctors said. At least a dozen more people were killed in the attack.

“At 6:16 p.m. she expired,” said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Ms. Bhutto’s party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack, according to The Associated Press.Hundreds of supporters had gathered at the political rally, which was being held at Liaqut Bagh, a park that is a common venue for political rallies and speeches, in Rawalpindi, the garrison city adjacent to the capital.

Amid the confusion after the explosion, the site was littered with pools of blood. Shoes and caps of party workers were lying on the asphalt, and shards of glass were strewn about the ground. Pakistani television cameras captured images of ambulances pushing through crowds of dazed and injured people at the scene of the assassination.

CNN reported that witnesses at the scene described the assassin as opening fire on Ms. Bhutto and her entourage, hitting her at least once in the neck and once in the chest, before blowing himself up.

Farah Ispahani, a party official from Ms. Bhutto’s party, said: “It is too soon to confirm the number of dead from the party’s side. Private television channels are reporting twenty dead.” Television channels were also quoting police sources as saying that at least 14 people were dead.

At the hospital where Ms. Bhutto was taken, a large number of police began to cordon off the area as angry party workers smashed windows. Many protesters shouted “Musharraf Dog”. One man was crying hysterically, saying “O my sister has been killed.” Amid the crowd, dozens of people beat their chests, and chanted slogans against Mr. Musharraf.

Ms. Bhutto will be greatly missed.

Tags: Benazir Bhutto, assasinattion, Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf (all tags)

Permalink | 16 comments

  • Despite the danger.... (0 / 0)

    ... she insisted on continuing her fight. We should all be so brave.

    Since the house is on fire - let us warm ourselves.

    by michgs on Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 09:46:37 AM PDT

    • I know... (0 / 0)

      that in and of itself makes her an amazing person.  

      We talk about what our politicians go through to run here, being dragged through the mud, etc.  That's nothing compared to what they go through in other countries.  

      "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream..."

      by 1plain1peanut on Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 10:43:41 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  • What a tragic, senseless loss. (0 / 0)

    And what a cowardly act of malice.

    She will be missed.

    by Erika on Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 10:45:49 AM PDT

  • Listening to the news (0 / 0)

    This morning I was dropping my mother off at the train station at O-dark-thirty, and I was struck by the sequence of news bytes. First, there was a suicide bombing in Pakistan at a Bhutto event, news, but not treated as particularly remarkable.

    (Note: imagine the news if a suicide bomber appeared at an American campaign event, and/or if even one person was killed during the political season, even if it was at a Mike Gravel event.)

    Then it progressed to Bhutto was injured, and had been taken to the hospital.

    Then seriously injured.

    Then maybe dead (they could not confirm).

    Then killed.

    Then assasinated.

    One of the people who spoke about her was a journalist/ambassador who was a close friend and had known her since she was 16 and he was 18. He had helped get her out of prison after her father's government was deposed and her father was beheaded, and it was a good reminder of her history and the courage she has shown in her life. When she left London, she had emailed him and her other close friends a goodbye letter.

    Bhutto wasn't a terribly effective Prime Minister and I wasn't thrilled about her returning to power. The corruption charges were serious and it's a shame that she did not govern better. But still, it is clear that she cared greatly for her country, and it is a terrible blow to Pakistan to have their fragile state thrown into even more chaos.

    My fervent hopes go out to the Pakistani people, that they can find a path to a peaceful democratic state.

    by shenanigans on Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 11:37:55 AM PDT

    • Good article in Slate by Christopher Hitchens (0 / 0)

      about her mixed legacy - her amazing courage and fight against the previous dictatorship, but also her own family's corruption, Pakistan's nuclear program, and its support of the Taliban. And about how perhaps she could have finally been a force for good to bring Pakistan to a better position.

      http://www.slate.com/...

      The sternest critic of Benazir Bhutto would not have been able to deny that she possessed an extraordinary degree of physical courage. When her father was lying in prison under sentence of death from Pakistan's military dictatorship in 1979, and other members of her family were trying to escape the country, she boldly flew back in. Her subsequent confrontation with the brutal Gen. Zia-ul-Haq cost her five years of her life, spent in prison. She seemed merely to disdain the experience, as she did the vicious little man who had inflicted it upon her.

      American educated, she attended Radcliffe and Harvard.

      by shenanigans on Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 01:07:12 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      • Thanks for this (0 / 0)

        Very interesting.

        by NJmom on Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 01:25:52 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

      • Hitchens (0 / 0)

        really can write. He effectively sums up the ambiguity I feel about Bhutto's political achievements as well as her power as a political actor and woman of courage. It is without a doubt an absolute tragedy that she - and her political supporters, let's not forget - died in such a brutal manner. It also bodes extremely poorly for Pakistan's near future to have her assassinated; I wonder what Imran Khan is doing now, and how he and his party will contest the elections.

        But Bhutto (and her father) helped stoked the fires that have put Pakistan into the position it is in today. And the fact that her husband and her government were extremely corrupt is not something that should be lightly dismissed.

        However, she was a woman of great courage, a patriot, and someone who should be mourned.

        by Rachel on Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 03:02:41 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

  • so sad (0 / 0)

    When I heard the news at work today, I was truly sad.  I have admired this woman since I was in high school, because I always thought it amazing that a woman could lead a third world, muslim nation.  So, I'm just so disappointed that it had to end this way, and I'm so sad for her children.  They kept replaying that clip on the news where Bhutto said the day she lost her father was the worst of her life, and I just thought about her kids every time.

    by tessajp on Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 05:08:18 PM PDT

  • Grief Not Politics (0 / 0)

    One thing I will not do is engage in a political discussion on the same day that a political leaders life was taken through assassination, while the blood and gore is still warm in the streets.  This is the time for grieving, a time for showing respect.

    I condemn anyone who uses the occasion of assassination as a rhetorical political tool to further their own agenda, as I have seen some of the political candidates do, and as I have seen on a number of blogs.

    To them I say, for shame, have you no decency?

    PS, a reporter on the scene heard three shots, and the explosion occurred after the shots were fired, apparently the shooter blew himself up.  

    According to a doctor who assisted Ms. Bhutto, a bullet which struck her in the neck damage her spine, and that was the cause of her death.

    My condolences and regrets to her family, may they take comfort in the knowledge that Benazir Bhutto gave her life in the service of our country.

    by Aaron on Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 10:53:44 PM PDT

    • I am sorry if I offended you (0 / 0)

      I have tremendous respect for her, and I was deeply saddened when they confirmed her death. It is a tragedy for her, her family, Pakistan, and the world.

      by shenanigans on Fri Dec 28, 2007 at 09:19:24 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    • I hear you on the grief (0 / 0)

      but as this assassination was an overtly political act, I don't see how we can avoid at least talking about how this affects the Pakistani political scene - and by extension, the Pakistani people.

      BTW, are you Pakistani? I note at the end of your post you say ... "gave her life in the service of our country."

      by Rachel on Fri Dec 28, 2007 at 03:26:38 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  • exposing sham explanations (0 / 0)

    The Pakistani gov't's "official" story: Bhutto was killed incidentally when she slipped and fractured her skull on the sunroof of her car.

    Now most people can see that this is patently absurd, but then the gov't releases this photo of the alleged skull fracture. This maybe makes people think twice.

    This is where is it really handy to be married to a neuroradiologist. DH says this is a terrible image that doesn't even particularly look like a skull, let alone a skull fracture. What's more, skull fractures aren't usually fatal.

    Now (to quote DH) the "temporary liquefication of your brain from the concussive force of a shockwave due to a bomb nearby...that'll pretty much do you in. Also, bullets in the neck--those also are bad."

    by sangfroid on Sat Dec 29, 2007 at 09:43:28 AM PDT

  • New Bhutto assassination video, cover-up exposed (0 / 0)

    New video appears to show Bhutto being shot

    This second video in this clip, which I haven't been able to find unedited yet for download, shows Benazir Bhutto being hit possibly twice, the last appears to be a spinal shot, judging by the way she falls. The shooter who is on the left, seems to go unmolested by the body guards and police around the vehicle as he raises his weapon.

    Also CNN aired a picture of the seat in the vehicle where Bhutto was sitting, and there was a large puddle of blood in it.

    It's interesting that the Musharraf controlled government has been trying to convince people that she fell and hit her head, even providing supposed x-rays of Bhutto's skull, in contrast to what the doctor who examined her wounds stated.

    This is obviously a cover-up, and we need to ask ourselves who had the most to gain by her death.

    by Aaron on Mon Dec 31, 2007 at 05:02:49 AM PDT

  • Every day I have a renewed (0 / 0)

    sense of sadness over this horrifying act of assassination and all other violent acts.  No matter how much violence goes on in the world, I am always shocked and feel a sense of loss - how I wish we could live in a peaceful world.  

    karen

    by karen m on Mon Dec 31, 2007 at 11:59:39 AM PDT

Permalink | 16 comments