Bhutto blown up

[syciprider]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22406555/?gt1=10645

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide bombing that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, a party aide and a military official said.

"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack.

“She has been martyred,” added party official Rehman Malik. Bhutto was 54.

[syciprider]

A party security adviser said Bhutto was shot in the neck and chest as she got into her vehicle, then the gunman blew himself up.

A senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, confirmed that Bhutto had died.

Her supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog," referring to Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf. Some of them smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene of the bombing could see body parts and flesh scattered at the back gate of the Liaqat Bagh park where Bhutto had spoken. He counted about 20 bodies, including police, and could see many other wounded people.


The road outside was stained with blood. People screamed for ambulances. Others gave water to the wounded lying in the street.

The clothing of some of the victims was shredded and people put party flags over their bodies.

Security had been tight, with hundreds of riot police manning security checkpoints with metal detectors around what was Bhutto's first campaign rally since returning from exile two months ago.

Bhutto had planned an earlier rally in the city, but Musharraf forced her to cancel it, citing security fears. In October, suicide bombers struck a parade celebrating Bhutto’s return, killing more than 140 people in the southern city of Karachi.

Jan. 8 elections
Parties across the country were stepping up campaigning for the Jan. 8 elections after a Muslim holiday late last week and a holiday on Tuesday for the birthday of Pakistan’s founder and revered first leader, Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Western allies hope the election will restore stability in a nuclear-armed country vital to their battle against Islamist militancy. The three-way race had pitted Bhutto against the party of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and a party that backs Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup.

The elections are for provincial parliaments and for a National Assembly from which a prime minister and a government will be drawn.

In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security forces in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital where Musharraf stays and the Pakistan army has its headquarters.

Before the rally, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, Bhutto had met with visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the end of his two-day visit here.

“We too believe that it is essential for both of our countries, and indeed the larger Muslim world, to work to protect the interest of Islamic civilization by eliminating extremism and terrorism,” she said after their meeting.

Family targeted over the years
Bhutto's family is no stranger to violence.

Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was Pakistan's first popularly elected prime mister. He was executed in 1979 after being deposed in a military coup.

Bhutto became the first female prime minister in the Muslim world when she was elected in 1988 at the age of 35. She was deposed in 1990, re-elected in 1993, and ousted again in 1996 amid charges of corruption and mismanagement.

She said the charges were politically motivated but in 1999 chose to stay in exile rather than face them.

Both of her brothers died in mysterious circumstances and she had said al-Qaida assassins tried to kill her several times in the 1990s.

Intelligence reports have said al-Qaida, the Taliban and Pakistani jihadi groups have sent suicide bombers after her.

[FL Knifemaker]

Should have called Blackwater

[syciprider]

She was pretty ballsy making all those public appearances despite suicide attacks heralding her return. I thought that it may catch up with her. And it did.

[syciprider]

Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker

Should have called Blackwater

[middy]

Makes me glad that the political process is so relatively civilized here in the USA, despite all the partisan bickering.

[syciprider]

No ####!

[Pacman]

Holy crap!

[Ívar Þórólfsson]

Damn

Bleh, I don't even have words for this....

[Scarlet Fire]

Say what you will about her politics, but for her to return and make a stand like that was truly courageous.

A sad day for Pakistan.

[MJ5150]

My local news radio station said she survived an attempt on her life by a suicide bomber. I guess not, unless this was a second attempt.

-Mike

[oldrookie]

Second attempt. The earlier attack is referenced in the article. Happened very soon after her return to the country.

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by oldrookie

Second attempt. The earlier attack is referenced in the article. Happened very soon after her return to the country.

Gotcha, thanks for the update.

-Mike

[syciprider]

It is scary that there is so much strife in a Nuclear Club country.

[Bryan316]

I thoroughly expect End of Days. This world proves year after year, it cannot survive Mankind.

[Dr. Cheese]

I don't think Bhutto was the answer, but her assasination is a definite sign that Pakistan is hopelessly unstable.

So much for all that money spent on Pakistan.

[FL Knifemaker]

So.......................


If their country tailspins into cival war, should we send in troops to protect their nukes?? The UN is too chicken$6!7 to do it........ That is the next big question folks

[middy]

Originally Posted by Bryan316

I thoroughly expect End of Days. This world proves year after year, it cannot survive Mankind.

Pshh. The planet will be fine. Humanity also will survive.

Will civilization survive? There's always room for doubt there....

[syciprider]

I'm ready for irradiated zombies.

[unbasslichkeit]

I think Dr. Thompson said it best: Big trouble, soon come.