From an NPR interview with second cousin and close friend of Benazir Bhutto, Mark Siegel:
On October 26th [after the first assassination attempt against her], she sent me an e-mail, instructing me to release it if she was killed, at her death, making it clear that she held the intelligence agencies of Pakistan responsible, and then she also said that she was being intimidated by Musharraf's people, that she's not getting any protection, and that she holds him personally responsible for what happened to her.
"Why not just have a happy life somewhere?"
She made it clear to me... her political committment to democracy in Pakistan was the most important segment, part of her life, that everything came second... She told me that God had a plan for her... and she said she was in God's hands.
Today, extremists--possibly assisted by the Pakistani government--assassinated a leading voice for democracy in Pakistan. At the very least, Musharraf turned a blind eye:
Her husband had asked the Musharraf government for certain security protections, and they never got them. The October 18th and 19th assassination attempt against her was never investigated thoroughly. She had asked for the FBI and Scotland Yard to be brought in, for forensic evidence. That was never done by the Musharraf government. She had asked the Musharraf government over the last several weeks for tinted glass for her cars, for jammers that would jam IED devices, bulletproof glass, she had asked to have four police cars in front and to the sides of her at all times. None of things were actually done...
Again, I wonder if Richard Engel wants to take back this hit-piece he wrote on Bhutto.
Sure, people die every day due to extremist attacks, but this was a leading voice for democracy in a nation which badly needs such voices. Our government--by continuing to support Musharraf and his failed attempt at government--is complicit in her death. And her death sends a clear signal to the world: Pakistan does not care enough to protect its democratic voices, or worse, is unable to do so. The extremists won today, and I am afraid to say that by failing to prevent her death, we have officially lost the war on terror.
The only thing our government can do to make up for this is to immediately withdraw all support for Pakistan's weak excuse for a President. Since that isn't going to happen any time soon, I for one have lost all hope in this "war". In Bhutto's words, we are in God's hands now...
[Update]: There's a well-crafted diary here that delves into another perspective of this tragedy. I recommend reading it...