Bhutto Killed: Outrage and Shock!

The hotbed of Muslim extremism just got even hotter as Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at a political rally today. A suicide bomber killed Bhutto and at least 20 others in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. This story is still breaking so details are very sketchy.

What I know about Bhutto is that she was in exile from 1998 until this year, when her and Prime Minister Pervez Musharraf reached an amnesty deal with regards to charges of past corruption against Bhutto. She was elected twice to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan, but removed both times because of those alleged corruption charges. Bhutto comes from an extremely influential family in Pakistan. In fact, her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto served as Prime Minister in the 1970s before he went to trial and was subsequently executed for ordering the murder of a political opponent. The charges were quite possibly baloney and the trial itself was considered shady, leaving most to think the allegations and execution were the work of the President at the time, General Zia. The murder of Ali Bhutto was made light of in the movie Charlie Wilson's War, which I saw the other day.

Benazir Bhutto, was a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel, as well as Larry King on CNN. She was 54. I always marvelled at the courage of this woman; so strong in her convictions and outspoken against those she believed were bringing her country down.

We can only wonder what the backlash to all of this will be. Who was behind it? Islamists? The I.S.I.? Musharraf?

Things just got hotter in an unstable, nuclear nation.

R.I.P. Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007).