Democracy for Vancouver

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — The Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated near the capital, Islamabad, on Thursday. Witnesses said Ms. Bhutto, who was appearing at a political rally, was fired upon by a gunman at close range, quickly followed by a blast that the government said was caused by a suicide attacker.

Ms. Bhutto, a former prime minister of Pakistan, was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Rawalpindi at 6:16 p.m. At least a dozen more people were killed in the attack.
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A close aide to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf blamed Islamic militants for the assassination, and said it was carried out by a suicide bomber.

Bhutto was no Aung San Suu Kyi. Her administration was run out of power on charges of massive corruption. But Bhutto’s father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who founded the party his daughter would later lead, worked for a democratic Pakistan, and served as the country’s President and then Prime Minister from 1971-1977. He was executed in 1979 after a show trial by Musharraf’s predecessor in military dictatorship, General Zia-al-Haq. And his daughter was a courageous voice for democracy; losing her father and two brothers to murder did not silence Bhutto’s calls for a secular, democratic, pluralistic Pakistan, whatever her failures at governing.

Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan gave at least some promise of a return to democracy and political pluralism. But either the Islamic fundamentalists, who cannot countenance a woman in power, or Musharraf, or the two working together saw to it that democracy is not in Pakistan’s immediate future. Militant Islamic fundamentalists have worked hand-in-glove with Musharraf and the Pakistani secret service, the ISI, since Musharraf took power, and it was certainly in both their interests to eliminate Bhutto as a rallying point for a return to secular democracy.

The U.S. has not helped the people of Pakistan either maintain or reclaim their democracy, using military support and financial aid largely against Pakistan’s democratically elected governments, starting after the coup that toppled Pakistan’s first civilian government after partition from India. In typical Cold War realpolitik style, the U.S. backed Pakistan’s military government so long as Pakistan’s military government opposed the Soviet Union. When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto returned Pakistan to civilian rule (and a softer stance on communism), the aid dried up - just until General Zia took over and joined the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. U.S. aid was again withdrawn after the Soviet’s fled Afghanistan and Pakistan returned to civilian rule in the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s; and now, of course, Musharraf gets $1 billion a year for his assistance (however fictional) in the War on Terror.

Bush et al. may finally be tiring of Musharraf’s lies, his cozy relationship with militant Islamic fundamentalists, his peace treaty with al Qaeda in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, and his recent forays into overt despotism. One can only hope that Bhutto’s assassination, if nothing else, rationalizes U.S. policy toward that benighted country.