Here, from today's FrontPage, is my take on the murder of Benazir Bhutto and its chief beneficiaries (news links in the original):
Al-Qaeda has claimed credit for the murder on Thursday of Benazir Bhutto: “We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen.” According to an Italian jihadist website, the hit was ordered by none other than Ayman Al-Zawahri, Al-Qaeda’s Number Two man. However, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel was cautious about such reports: “I’m aware that al-Qaida may have claimed responsibility. I’m aware of news reports of that. But,” he told reporters, “I don’t have any specifics for you on that. Whoever perpetrated this attack is an enemy of democracy and has used a tactic that al-Qaida is very familiar with, and that is suicide bombing and the taking of innocent life to try to disrupt the democratic process.”And disrupted it is. The remaining democratic opponent of the Musharraf regime, Nawaz Sharif, announced that his party would boycott national elections set for January: “We have decided to boycott elections in honor of Ms. Bhutto,” he said. “Under the present circumstances and under Musharraf, neither is campaigning possible nor is a free election.”
The only winner in these circumstances is likely to be the Pakistani jihadists, who have long despised Bhutto for her Western leanings and her stated determination to stamp out Al-Qaeda in the country. Whether or not Al-Qaeda actually carried out the murder of Bhutto, they had threatened to kill back in October, when she returned to Pakistan and resumed a role on the national stage. Mahmoud Al Hasan of Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen, a jihadist group allied with the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party, excoriated Bhutto at that time for saying she would join the U.S. in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. “Benazir Bhutto,” he fumed, “was totally talking like an infidel. What should be the reaction of jihadis? They should definitely kill her. She is an enemy of Islam. She is an enemy of jihadis. She is an enemy of the country.”It may be that the assassination of Bhutto is part of this jihad, and part of a larger effort to institute Islamic rule in Pakistan. That movement has broad popular support. According to a September CNN poll, in Pakistan “bin Laden has a 46 percent approval rating. Musharraf’s support is 38 percent. U.S. President George W. Bush’s approval: 9 percent.”
Musharraf earlier this year faced down the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, whose leaders were openly calling for the strict rule of Islamic law in Pakistan; the emergency rule he declared in November was a direct attempt to counter the growing power of the exponents of political Islam. Al-Qaeda, in response, called on Muslims to wage jihad against Musharraf. And just weeks after the imposition of emergency rule, jihadists were still gaining territory in the country’s northwest region, a hotbed of jihadist sentiment, at the expense of the federal government. Once in power, they instituted draconian Islamic laws reminiscent of the Taliban, shutting down video stores and schools for girls. But such measures don’t appear to be unpopular in some areas of Pakistan. Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Righteous), another jihadist group there, collaborates with Al-Qaeda and may also be involved in actions against Western targets. The Los Angeles Times reported that “U.S. counterterrorism officials say the group’s status as a legal organization in Pakistan makes it difficult to oppose. It has thousands of loyal supporters and close ties to a government that has done little to rein it in.”
There is a great deal more evidence of jihadist sympathizers at the highest levels of the Pakistani government. Also in November, then-Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer declared: “We’ve been concerned about some elements of the Pakistani intelligence services and their links to the Taliban.” This should not be surprising, considering that Bhutto herself aided the Taliban during her tenure as prime minister: an exercise in realpolitik that her followers may be regretting today.
Given such a political climate, it should not be surprising if Bush’s call to Pakistanis to “honor Benazir Bhutto’s memory by continuing with the democratic process for which she so bravely gave her life,” if followed through with free elections, results in the installation of an Islamic regime in Pakistan. Then a nuclear-armed state dedicated to the jihad ideology and Islamic supremacism will alter the uneasy status quo in the Islamic world and the world at large, forever.
Speaking of elections: Steve Beren - wannabe Republican Congressman (Wash. State) - points the finger at "Islamo fascism" as focus of evil.
http://libertarianrepublican.blogspot.com/2007/12/bhutto-murder-proves-those-who-minimize.html
The Bush crime family will shoot him down, in service of their Saudi pimps.
The military dictatorship isn't such a bad thing in this case. Musharraf needs to toss out the media and clean house by any means necessary. I hope our Spec Ops guys help, too.
I should've added that Ambassador John Bolton was discussing Pakistan last night on Fox News (Hannity and Colmes) and I agreed with everything he said. He should be Bush's National Security Advisor instead of floundering around in think tanks.
Mr. Bolton did a good job explaining things, but it would not suprise me if Mussy is the next to go since the Islamofacists want to go for the big fish in order to take over Pakistian for its nukes and to beat Iran to getting an Islamic bomb.
supercargo,
The good that is going to come out of all this is that the canidates running for the 2008 presidential elections will get serious for a change focus on the need to fight terrorism.
Now, the emergency declared by Musharraf does not look so bad. Had USA not pressured Musharraf to lift the emergency, give up the uniform and set date for election, Benezir would still be alive to fight (the elections) another day.
Bush should stay away from Pakistan, letting Musharraf bring the country under control which, if allowed, Musharraf is capable of.
World Net Daily quoted Fred Thompson on this issue.
He actually used the words "clash of civilizations"!
Is it possible there is a candidate out there who has even a slight clue?
I can only hope that local police are on the alert in cities where there are large populations of ex-patriots from Pakistan. In this issue there are bound to be differing opinions and excess of zeal.
Atlanta just reported over 25K Pakistanis.
It is interesting that they were not identified as former or Americans formerly from. Probably and oversight.
Totally agree with your comments. It is unfortunate that a peaceful country like India will suffer immediate consequences and the world at large will face the brunt.
We will see more terrorist attacks in India thanks to the current PC regime (UPA) ruling (ruining) the country. Indian PC Media has hailed Bhutto as the face of Moderate Islam!! Moderate Islam is an oxymoronic term. The only comments that made sense in India were of LK Advani who has echoed similar sentiments.
The editorial of Daily Pioneer has an interesting editorial titled "Apocalypse now"
http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=EDITS&file_name=edit1%2Etxt&counter_img=1
Log on to BBC News Online and go to have Your Say about Bhutto - The truth is getting published in the first two pages of readers recommended and the left are screaming blue murder.
Most of the top posters seem to be using the highly accessible, succinct, mater of fact language that Robert is 'teaching us'.
Glory - The truth is getting out there.
I can't understand what has happened to the BBC - My cynical guess is that the PC Gestapo must be on leave and as soon as they get wind of the truth getting out the HYS about Bhutto will be killed off.
Dare we pray that this is the turning point in the British media - I'm not holding my breath?
But for now the truth is flowing unhindered.
John Bolton is insightful.
But other than status quo, where are the solutions?
But not even he has realized the need to leverage India to neutralize the Pakistani threat.
The way things are going India is likely to get nuked by Pakistan fairly soon.
bigcatgirl13106, John Bolton should be POTUS.
Sorry, my comment should have been a response to Bingo.
Well, it is likely to create all out war, that will overthrow the Pakistani government and allow the Jihadi/Sharia forces to inherit nuclear weapons with reasonable distances.
Israel will be first on the list of obliteration.
India next.
The violence in iraq will fade away because the enemies will seize the opportunity to be in a safe environment once they cross into Iran, and continue on to Pakistan. Iran-Pakistan will be a new unified bloc and project it's power and share it's nuclear technology.
Afghanistan will be over-run and our forces will be over-run with that because of the lack of support: Afghanistan absorbs into the Bloc.
On a side note:
I have been having disturbing dreams of late that always have the same theme: something is going to bust wide open in this war against the world by Islam. I get the feeling of imminence when I go over the dreams when I wake up.
I don't know what is going to happen or when, or what the outcome is going to be, but it was pure bedlam and chaos everywhere on earth. This started happening around August, every few nights or so, and even sometimes the memories cropped up during the day during slow moments.
Lately I have "turned off" the TV more than usual; have put my head into distractive duties like working on my basement renovation just to get "away" from that "pit in the bottom of my stomach" feeling.
I just heard about Bhutto this AM as I turned on my PC for the first time since early December...
I just have an absolutely terrible feeling about what is about to happen to us all.
:(
Bingo:
As far as I know Musharaff hasn't done a damned thing to "clean house". All the people arrested under his recent "emergency rule" were lawyers, judges and opposition leaders. Not a single Jihadist among them!
Islamic extremism in Pakistan has only gained strength under his leadership. He has had 8 years to get that country's house in order and its in a worse mess than ever.
If American forces ever do land in Pakistan, I hope he should be among those they arrest.
"... I hope he should be among those they arrest"
Blasted typos!
"... he should be taken prisoner" sounds about right.
Note to self: Preview first, then post!
Nowadays, I think we all have that feeling, to one degree or another, HardBody.
You take care.
Regards,
HAID
HardBody
I can understand that feeling. I too have the sense of waiting for a shoe to drop.
If you are a Christian, I urge you to find and read two books by French theologian and sociologist Jacques Ellul - "Prayer and Modern Man", and "Hope in an Age of Abandonment". (Ellul, by the way, was friend and mentor to Bat Yeor; wrote a book in support of Israel; and had absolutely no illusions about Islam, a religion he summed up as being "fundamentally warlike").
I myself find it helpful, whenever I get that 'pit of the stomach' feeling, to recite the Trishagion, which Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans use in the Good Friday liturgy - "Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us".
Whether you are a Christian or not, you might consider reading the little book of Habakkuk, in the Bible; or G K Chesterton's "The Ballad of the White Horse", "The Ballad of St Barbara", and "The Battle of Lepanto".
Finally, I offer you a splendid passage from Australian secular poet John Manifold, from his elegy, "The Tomb of Lieutenant John Learmonth, A.I.F", written for a friend who died in the Battle of Crete in World War II:
"Say Crete, and there is little more to tell
of muddle tall as treachery, despair
and black defeat resounding like a bell;
but bring the magnifying focus near
and in contempt of muddle and defeat
the old heroic virtues still appear...
His [Learmonth's] freedom gave him nothing else to do
BUT SET HIS BACK AGAINST HIS FAMILY TREE
and fight the better for the fact he knew
He was as good as dead. Because the sea
was closed, and the air dark, and the land lost
"They'll never capture me alive," said he."
"His freedom gave him nothing else to do/ but set his back against his family tree/ and fight"...What better way to put what it is that, for example, Spencer is doing, or Bat Yeor? And all non-dhimmi non-Muslims.
The BBC got their assed kicked for censoring a Christmas song too. Seems Aunty can do no right at the moment.
That said the evil swine’s still have no honour. In a perfect world the BBC would be kicking off about the lack of helicopters in Afghanistan, but no our Dear Leaders and their stooges would rather fly the flag at half mast for a corrupt foreign leader.
There will be a war here one day. Has horrible has it will be, we will win because I will be there.
Atlanta just reported over 25K Pakistanis
I knew Atlanta was teeming with Palestinians, but I had no idea there were that many Paks there. I'm sure the Paks stick together like the Palestinians, in filthy slums comprised of large apartment complexes. They emerge in full force for the "Support Palestine" parades and then retreat to their secluded islamic enclaves, where they live like animals.
Pakistanis seem to migrate to warm climates. There was an article in the local newspaper a few months ago about the "Pakistani community", with all the usual multicultural BS about their many contributions to society. I have yet to witness a single contribution to American society by a muslim from anywhere. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Muslims do not give; muslims steal, expropriate, and finagle. They also lie, cheat, and deceive as dictated by their evil religion.
Sorry, I guess I'm a hardcore, incurable islamophobe and an anti-multiculturalist. My culture is infinitely superior to islamic culture and neither the UN nor the PC gestapo will ever convince me otherwise. ANyone with properly functioning senses and half a brain can distinguish good from evil and the cultural Marxists that refuse to acknowlege the obvious are contemptuous cowards.
SusanP- They tend to keep a low profile. Many of them run older motels or manage more modern chain gas stations. A number are medical professionals. They seem ethnically more akin to Indians than Arabs, so they have that going for them. I'd rather have a Paki here than a Saudi student, for sure.
But my preference is that we terminate immigration from Muslim countries due to the reformation going on in Islam. I wish our gov't would do something about this stream of migrants.
Bhutto was indeed brave to return to that hellhole.
I admire her courage and desire for democracy and the extermination of fanatical islamic terrorists.
I wish all these people jumping on the bandwagon singing her praises would stop for a minute and look ar her history.
Deposed twice and into exile on charges of massive corruption that have actually been substantiated, was heavily instrumental in making Pakistan nuclear armed - (taking exactly the same line that the mullahs in Iran are now, that Pakistans nuclear drive is for peaceful purposes only)
And last but by no means least, instrumental in and virtually forming the Taliban herself.
I lived in Dubai for 4 years (I left in 2003) and Ms. Bhutto had hundreds of business interests there,it was common knowledge.
My wife and I used to shop in one her supermarkets which was part of one of the biggest chains in the Emirates.(I am not talking little corner shops here, I am talking massive western style stores were one can buy all ones shopping for the month).
Then her 7 million GBP mansion in London.
Where did the money come from for all this?
I wont even mention her husband and the mysterious shooting of her own son.
I do not want to appear direspectful but hey, lets call a spade a spade.