"Yep, it’s official. Al Qaeda, not Hillary, killed Benzir Bhutto."

[WilliamPitt]

Al Qaeda Did It?
By Larry Johnson

Yep, it’s official. Al Qaeda, not Hillary, killed Benzir Bhutto. How do we know? Well, the Pakistani Interior Minister said so:

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said that on Friday, the government recorded an”intelligence intercept” in which militant leader Baitullah Mehsud “congratulated his people for carrying out this cowardly act.”

He also let us know that she died from hitting her head. Amazing how Pakistani authorities could know such a thing since no autopsy was performed. Must be the equivalent of psychic healing. Worth noting that the physician who examined her at the hospital emergency unit appeared to indicate that she had a hole in the side of her head.

I do not rule out Islamic radicals who are not part of the government as possible culprits. But they are not the only folks with motive and access. In fact, the Government of Pakistan’s rush to pin this on Al Qaeda smacks of scape goating. There are longstanding ties between Al Qaeda and elements of the military and the intelligence service.

The virtual absence of any uniformed security detail around her gives further credence to the belief that elements within the military and ISI did away with her. There was no doubt that Benazir was a high risk for an assassination attempt. Why were Pakistani authorities so passive when it came to her security? It would be one thing if she resisted efforts to cover her. But the opposite is true. She had specifically and repeatedly asked for more security. At least she was not suicidal.

AQ is always a convenient boogeyman, but there is a pretty significant gap between what they claim to do and what they have actually accomplished over the last two years. Talking a good game and doing something are two different things. President Musharef and his crowd have some explaining to do.

Link: http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/dec/28/al_qaeda_did_it

[DemKR]

1. Hillary acquitted!!!

[aquart]

3. Oddly, I don't get that from the above paragraphs.

and I'm not liking it one bit.

[panader0]

2. "Hit her head"? Yeah, against a bullet.

[progressivebydesign]

5. the only plausible info on the head injury..

was that when the shots were fired, she tried to get back into the sunroof opening, but the blast force of the explosions threw her head against a knob of some sort, hard enough to fracture her skull. A surgeon that treated her said that... of course, we all know that 99% of what is coming out of Pakistan regarding this is probably bullshit. I could imagine the blast could have caused such a thing. Why did her husband not want an autopsy? Is there an islamic law about burying someone so fast? I thought that was weird in relation to everything going on.

[gateley]

11. I don't understand how WHAT was the cause of death really matters. There were

gunmen and a bomb. The intent was obvious. If she wasn't struck by a bullet or she didn't hit her head from the force of the blast, she would have been killed when the car exploded.

EDIT to add -- WHO is the more important issue.

[mike_c]

4. I'll sleep better tonight....

:rofl:

[H2O Man]

6. Perhaps the most

important point in this is that al Qaeda and the Pakistani intelligence services are related.

[gatorboy]

7. The cackling will never cease now.

May it burn a hole deep into Tweety's cerebellum.

[progressivebydesign]

8. amazing they can intercept a 'congrats' but NOT the plot to kill her.

Ironic, isn't it? I'm not really believing anything they're proclaiming today. It's too easy.

[2rth2pwr]

9. If this goes the direction of the Kennedy assassination

we will be hearing about Hillary taking shots at her from a grassy knoll.

[blues90]

10. The only thing we will ever know is she is dead

Unless people are talking about Elvis . We know it was for political reasons but like anything else there will be years of where , what and how , the why part is always left out .

The point for me is it is a loss and a damn shame and we can expect more of the same sort of thing to happen again .