Redstate

Some more scant details here.

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Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.

The former prime minister of Pakistan was injured during terrorist bombing Thursday:

The attack has left at least 14 dead and 40 injured, Tariq Azim Khan, the country's former information minister, told CNN in a telephone interview.

Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari told CNN affiliate Geo TV that his wife was shot in the neck in the attack.

The attacker is said to have detonated a bomb as he tried to enter the rally where thousands of people gathered to hear Bhutto speak, police said.

Bhutto is said to have been leaving the rally when the attack occurred and was taken to a hospital in an unconcious state, the Geo TV report said.

The Associated Press reports Bhutto died at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack:

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.

Fox News reports Bhutto has shot before the bomb exploded:

Bhutto was shot in the neck and chest as she was entering her vehicle, and then the bomber blew himself up, FOX News has confirmed.

The Wall Street Journal reports Bhutto met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai before the rally at which she was attacked:

Before the rally, Ms. Bhutto had met with visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the end of his two-day visit here and told him that if she is elected prime minister she will work with him to fight terror. "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.

This September article from Sky News reminds us why the Bhutto assassination is a setback in the War Against Islamic Extremists:

She matters because she is on the joint Pakistani election ticket which is being backed by the US (and apparently by Britain too). And she matters because at the moment, there doesn't seem to be any Plan B if this doesn't work out.

We need an alphabet soup of plans for dealing with Pakistan.

Musharref's people?
Jihadists?

Both stand to profit from this.

Cheers,
Scott in Indy

.....the island of Iwo Jima, the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Marine Divisions had to kill 20,800 out of the 21,000 defenders. We have our work cut out for us. We can glimpse the size of the task. Freedom is not free.

Mushareff stood to gain, but I doubt he was behind this. Al Quada couldn't have been happy with her strong stance against Islamic extremism and terror, but this doesn't look like an AQ job either (in my opinion). It was probably part of the regular extremist elements that have been doing this kind of thing in Pakistan for a long time.

The dangers from this are too multiple to list. I think India will stand back and keep an eye on things. The danger is how Mushareff responds, how Bhutto's people react, and how the local extremists (as well as AQ) react. This could get out of control, with local extremists escalating, Mushareff clamping down.

I think the big question that the US needs to find out is "who does the majority of the Pakistani people blame". Depending on if it is Mushareff or the extremists, this may determine if a civil war breaks out. I'm interested in what the US response will be, and where we put the blame.

Pakistan tested a nuke a few years ago. The last thing we need is instability or the rise of an extremist islamic government in Pakistan. It's reasonable to assume the US and India have their eyes and ears focused on this trouble spot right now.

"Greater is an army of sheep led by a lion, than an army of lions led by a sheep" - Defoe

Its good to see that our $10 billion in foreign aid is buying so much stability and goodwill over there.

I wonder if we will ever know who was behind this. Musharraf, Al Qaeda, local militants, the ISI.

This is a very bad thing. I really hope it wasn't Musharraf.

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not. - Robert Kennedy

Karachi, 27 Dec. (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - A spokesperson for the al-Qaeda terrorist network has claimed responsibility for the death on Thursday of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

“We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen,” Al-Qaeda’s commander and main spokesperson Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid told Adnkronos International (AKI) in a phone call from an unknown location, speaking in faltering English. Al-Yazid is the main al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan.

It is believed that the decision to kill Bhutto, who is the leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was made by al-Qaeda No. 2, the Egyptian doctor, Ayman al-Zawahiri in October.

Death squads were allegedly constituted for the mission and ultimately one cell comprising a defunct Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s Punjabi volunteer succeeded in killing Bhutto.\

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.1710322437

One more victory for the 'war on terror is a bumper sticker' crowd.

Keep in mind, we have been working with Musharraf's government to keep their nuclear arsenal secure... I wonder just how "active" our participation is in that effort?

Whatever the case, we (and the rest of the world) really do have an active interest in this struggle for power.

Pakistani Newspapers are saying there are up to thirty dead, including Ms. Bhutto.

SD Gates said this after the Peshawar Mosque bombing that killed 50 people during Eid (and seemed to have a government minister as it’s target).

"Al-Qaeda seems to have turned its face toward Pakistan and attacks on the Pakistani government and Pakistani people”

While purely speculation, the MO, targets and circumstances resemble previous AQ attacks elsewhere and are signs that Pakistan has indeed become an AQ target. With the substantial loss of credibility in Iraq, they have now turned to what appears a more tempting target; a Muslim nation with a large support base, tribal safe haven and unstable political situation. This is only the beginning of attacks which will soon resemble the early days of the Iraq conflict.

If successful, today’s Karzai-Musharaf meeting will go a long way towards squeezing AQ out of the tribal areas. However, their response will need to be just as ruthless in order to succeed; a tactic previously eluding both leaders.

"Nec Aspera Terrent"
bene ambula et redambula
Contributor to The Minority Report

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration scrambled Thursday with the implications of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination after investing significant diplomatic capital in promoting reconciliation between her and President Pervez Musharraf.

Yes yes... always scrambling that Bush Administration (eyes roll violently)

are staring into an abyss right now. They need to make the choice that they want to live in a law abiding and peaceful society. If they can't collectively make that choice and stand up to the forces of jihad, then they will most likely get anarchy followed by a violent, repressive and backwards Islamist regime.

I don't know that there's really that much we can do, I don't know how much sway our soapbox really holds over there, and we can try to keep Musharraf propped up, but that may be just delaying the inevitable.

...where they've had her on a death watch for the last few months.