Benazir Bhutto assassinated

[HoffaLives]

this is terrible news. while the world agonises over the middle east (oil, anyone?) there hasn't been nearly enough attention given to asia's dark underbelly. even if there is somehow a resolution to the middle east's woes, as long as this region is allowed to remain an anarchistic and impoverished boil of islamic fundamentalism, secular societies will be at risk. the assassination of this moderate, liberal voice in this hellish country means that only two political poles remain - a military junta or the taliban, neither of which can bode well for the world since more often than not they are in cahoots with each other.

while Bhutto had her faults, she was the single voice that could have rallied the moderates to push out the military and religious extremists. hate wins another throw and the world becomes yet a more dangerous place.

[AjariBonten]

Apart from the obvious personal tragedy of this event; the likely destabilizing effect on a pivotal Islamic power (and a nuclear one at that) is very worrying.

[Giulietta]

What else is new??

They've been at it for 5000 years..what makes you think things will change suddenly???

If it wasn't her, someone else would be....its the nature of the beast...

[Valiente]

1) Civil war in Pakistan
2) Islamicists/Al Qaeda sympathizers already in control of the north west take part in "emergency coalition government"
3) Pakistan nukes India in bid to retake Kashmir
4) All hell breaks loose.
5) IEDs in Iraq look almost nostalgic.

[AjariBonten]

Originally Posted by Giulietta

What else is new??

They've been at it for 5000 years..what makes you think things will change suddenly???

If it wasn't her, someone else would be....its the nature of the beast...

I don't really expect things to change much at all (at least not for the better). The best we can hope for is status quo; and this isn't it.

[punjabi]

xxx
Going sailing.

[PBzeer]

As tragic as any assassination is, Bhutto was not the last great hope for Pakistan, though you'd never know it by the press coverage.

[HoffaLives]

Originally Posted by Giulietta

What else is new??

They've been at it for 5000 years..what makes you think things will change suddenly???

If it wasn't her, someone else would be....its the nature of the beast...

awful cynical for a catholic.

you could say the same thing about the human race. but a mediaeval culture with nuclear weapons is something new, and with the superpowers involved, it's a whole new ballgame. the last century saw europe as the world stage for conflict, this century it will be asia and the stakes are much, much higher.

[uspirate]

Everyone knew it was coming, it was just a matter of "when".

[AjariBonten]

Originally Posted by PBzeer

As tragic as any assassination is, Bhutto was not the last great hope for Pakistan, though you'd never know it by the press coverage.

No, she was hardly the last-best; but the overall upheaval will not be pretty. If it had been Mushareff, or the other buy that just returned from exile I would have the same hinky feeling in my gut.

Any step backward is bad................