Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today. A suicide bomber shot her then detonated himself. Though it is sad for her friends, family and followers, I have very little pity for her. As a leader of an opposition party in a country that is currently in a state of martial law she has done nothing but flaunt herself in a way that effectively begs people to try and kill her.
First example, on the eve of her return these preparations were made:
More than 20,000 police have been assigned to protect Bhutto and her entourage as she makes her way from the Karachi airport to the mausoleum of Pakistan’s founder on Thursday. Snipers will occupy rooftops and flyovers, and bomb disposal units have already started sweeping the route. It’s a journey that usually takes less than an hour. Police and party organizers are expecting an ordeal that could last up to eighteen hours, as fans coming as far away as Kashmir, in the country’s northeast, block her passage in an attempt to get a glimpse of their rehabilitated leader. Bhutto, who was greeted by a million-strong crowd when she returned from exile in 1986 to take up her father’s position as party leader, will be riding in a specially designed bulletproof glass container mounted on a trailer. It’s kind of like the pope-mobile, says PPP information secretary Sherry Rehman, “only without a top.”
-TIME
So when she gets to Pakistan she spends hours in a crawling motorcade until a bomb goes off. Her response:
Bhutto also wanted the government to focus on identifying the “sponsors and financers” of the terrorists who carried out the strike on October 19 that left 140 persons dead.
“It is my responsibility to take risks for the country. To save Pakistan, we need to protect democracy,” she said while addressing her second press conference since the attack at her home–Bilawal House. Bhutto said nothing will prevent her from reaching out to the people. - Access My Library
An admirable sentiment, but holy crap, it doesn’t get much dumber than that. I understand wanting to be in touch with “your people,” but you can’t single out “your people” from the people that want to assassinate you. And why give them the extra time to plan. For example when she first arrived in Pakistan, she was in the motorcade moving through the city for so long (literally hours), moving at a snails pace, that someone could have taken the time to build, strap on and detonate the bomb. The bomber didn’t need to have a plan, he could have made the plan as he went and not run out to time. The only thing that stopped the procession was the bomb.
So with that in mind she takes even more risks. I understand that she wants to be this figure of dissent and vocal opposition. But there is a smart way and a dumb way to do that. She takes the dumb way. Standing on top of cars, walking into throngs of people. And now, that has gotten her dead. Honestly it was only a matter of time. And in a lot of ways she is no different than the suicide bomber. She is willing to die for her cause and in a lot of ways it almost seemed like she wanted to die for her cause.
So now what remains to be seen is what effect her Martyrdom will have on the political climate of Pakistan. The place is already a hot bed of political and religious riots. What I wonder now, is how the Bush administration, who has sunk billions into Pakistan, is going to respond. My guess is another war.
The part that really gets me in this whole situation is all of the people surrounding these situation that have been killed, just for supporting Bhutto. In the first bombing when she got to Pakistan, there were 140 other people that died, in the bombing that led to her death today they are reporting that at least another dozen people died. Seems a little sad that people who just want to support a political cause, have to take the same risks Bhutto did, whether they wanted to or not.
