I, like many of you, have been closely following the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto. I, like many of you, believe this is a terrifying event not only for Pakistan but for the U.S. and the world as well.
I awoke early this morning to news of her funeral. It turned into Morning Joe so I promptly switched it off. I came here looking for news and found this interview she gave to David Frost less than two months ago (well worth the view). Frost allegedly asks her where she got all of her millions and she allegedly responds saying that was a sexist question. I have watched the interview several times yet still don't find this exchange.
Nevertheless, a thought occurred to me while watching the interview:
No matter what you think of the lady, and a lot of you don't think very much of her, she seems to have represented the democratic process in Pakistan, and that is more than can be said about many of our present rulers.
Update: As many of you may or may not know: the stories as to the cause of her death have changed AGAIN.
From Reuters: "The Interior Ministry said Bhutto had not been shot, nor hit by shrapnel, but had been killed when the force of the explosion smashed her head against a lever on the sun-roof. Security officials had earlier said she was shot in the head and neck...."
Raw Story says: "Police abandoned their security posts shortly before Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's assassination Thursday, according to a journalist present at the time, and unanswerable questions remain about the cause of her death, because an autopsy was never performed."
IBN Live (whatever that is) says: "Pakistan's assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest in a chaotic funeral at her ancestral home Friday as officials revealed she was killed by shrapnel not gunshots and blamed al Qaeda militants."
More: "[G]overnment officials said Friday that a medical report confirmed that Bhutto was killed by shrapnel from the blast -- from which at least 28 more people died and at least 100 were wounded.
The shrapnel hit the right side of her skull, Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema said. The bomber did shoot at Bhutto with a pistol, but she had no bullet injury."
...
Obviously, many people know a heck of a lot more about her life and Pakistan's history, and a whole lot of other things, than me, but it seemed to this guy that she was a force of moderation and a modernizing force who seemingly had the support of a lot of Pakistanis.
She was reportedly elected twice to lead the country, but each time she was promptly removed by the military, the ISI or potentially other forces. The first time she ruled for little more than one year, and the second time she lasted almost three years. As we all have heard, her father was executed by "President" Zia in 1979--2 years after he was removed from office! She was only 25 years old at the time, but less than ten years later she would become the elected leader of Pakistan. Wikipedia They say she was the first woman to head a Muslim country.
Yes, it appears she left Pakistan to avoid corruption charges, but can anyone, after what happened to her father, seriously blame her for not believing she would get a fair trial?
Were the charges of corruption true? I don't have the answer to that? What I do know is that she seemed a force for moderation and a modernizing force. That to me was good enough even if she did steal some money. If stealing money were a basis to exclude U.S. politicians from holding office, I think Bush, Cheney and many others would be out of a job. In fact, isn't that Bush's freakin' philosophy? They would say privatize, I would say steal.
In no way, do I support or condone embezzlement, it's just that she seemed, more than any other candidate, capable of helping Pakistan, which is all I want out of my own candidate here in the good ol' U.S. of A. And, she apparently had the support of the people, which is good enough for me. I just hope it wasn't due to American meddling, which I have read is exactly what happened. Rice tried to do something, and it turned out badly. Who would have thunk it?