Benazir Bhutto Assassinated
December 27th, 2007UPDATE #7: U.S. Special Forces Standing By to “Seize or Disable” Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons
Via: The Herald:
US special forces snatch squads are on standby to seize or disable Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal in the event of a collapse of government authority or the outbreak of civil war following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
The troops, augmented by volunteer scientists from America’s Nuclear Emergency Search Team organisation, are under orders to take control of an estimated 60 warheads dispersed around six to 10 high-security Pakistani military bases.
Military sources say contingency plans have been reviewed over the past three days to prevent any of Pakistan’s atomic weapons falling into the hands of Islamic extremists if the administration of President Pervez Musharraf appears threatened by civil unrest.
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Some of the special forces are already believed to be in neighbouring Afghanistan and on alert for the mission. It is also understood that satellite surveillance of Pakistan has been stepped up to keep track of the possible movement of nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems.
According to a US Congressional report published in November, Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent consists of warheads for missiles and bombs dropped from aircraft.
To maintain security, the weapons are not stored fully-assembled. Warheads, detonators and missiles are kept separately, but able to be married up “fairly quickly” in the event of a national crisis such as confrontation with India.
UPDATE #6: The Benazir Bhutto Dossier: ‘Secret Service Was Diverting U.S. Aid for Fighting Militants to Rig the Elections’
Via: Times Online:
On the day she was assassinated, Benazir Bhutto was due to meet two senior American politicians to show them a confidential report alleging that Pakistan’s intelligence service was using US money to rig parliamentary elections, officials in her party said yesterday.
The report was compiled by the former Prime Minister’s own contacts within the security services and alleged that the Inter-Services Intelligence agency was running the election operation from a safe house in the capital, Islamabad, they said. The operation’s aim was to undermine Ms Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and to ensure victory for the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) party, which supports President Musharraf, in the elections scheduled for January 8.
Patrick Kennedy, a Democratic congressman for Rhode Island, and Arlen Specter, a Republican member of the Senate sub-committe on foreign operations, have confirmed that they were planning to have dinner with Ms Bhutto on Thursday evening but were not available for comment yesterday.
Sarfraz Ali Lashari, a senior PPP official who works in its election monitoring cell, told The Times that he had helped to compile a 200-page report on the Government’s efforts to rig the poll, which Ms Bhutto planned to give to the Americans and to the press the day she was killed.
“But there is another report relating to the ISI and she was going to discuss it with them,” said Mr Lashari, an envi-ronmental economist who taught at Cranfield University for several years.
The second report, which Ms Bhutto did not plan to release to the media, alleged that the ISI was using some of the $10 billion (£5 billion) in US military aid that Pakistan has received since 2001 to run a covert election operation from a safe house in G5, a central district of Islamabad, he said.
“The report was done by some people who we’ve got in the services. They directly dealt with Benazir Bhutto,” he continued, adding that Ms Bhutto was planning to share the contents of the report with the British Ambassador as well as the US lawmakers.
Asif Ali Zardari, Ms Bhutto’s widower and the new co-chairman of the PPP, confirmed the existence of the report, its basic contents and Ms Bhutto’s plans to meet the US lawmakers last Thursday. Asked if such a report was in his possession, he said: “Something to that effect.” Asked if Ms Bhutto was planning to share its contents with the American legislators, he said: “I am not in a position to make an answer to that.” Asked if the report contained evidence that the ISI was using US funds to rig the elections, he said: “Possibly so.” He declined to give further details, but said the confidential report could have been one of several motives for killing Ms Bhutto, who died after a suicide-bomb and gun attack on an election rally near Islamabad. “It was a general combination of all of these things. The fact that she’s on the ground exposing everybody, I guess, would have been one reason. There are many views and many reasons one can think of for her assassination.”
The allegation is likely to fuel the already intense speculation surrounding the death, which triggered nationwide riots and raised fears that President Musharraf could reimpose emergency rule and postpone the elections.
Electoral fraud is nothing new in Pakistan, which has been led by military rulers for more than half of its 60-year history, and whose politics is dominated by feudal and tribal loyalties. In 1996 a former army chief called Mirza Aslam Baig alleged in court that he had been aware of a secret ISI political cell that distributed funds to antiPPP candidates in the run-up to the 1990-1991 elections.
Ms Bhutto had often accused President Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, of rigging elections and there have been reports that foreign financial aid to Pakistan’s Central Election Commission was being used to fix the result of next month’s poll.
However, the report that Ms Bhutto allegedly planned to share with the US politicians made the more serious allegation that the ISI was directly involved in rigging the coming parliamentary elections – and was using American money to do it. The United States has given Pakistan at least $10 billion in military aid since President Musharraf agreed to back the War on Terror after the September 11 attacks.
The money was supposed to be used to help Pakistan’s armed forces to fight al-Qaeda and Taleban militants sheltering in northwestern tribal areas near the porous border with Afghan-istan. But there has been almost no accounting for the funds, most of which have been transferred in cash directly to the Defence Ministry, and critics of President Musharraf say that much has been diverted towards other aims, such as upgrading forces on the border with India, or into private pockets.
This month the US Congress ordered the Government to withhold a portion of military aid to Pakistan until President Musharraf demonstrated progress in the campaign against the militants and in a transition towards civilian, democratic rule.
Mr Lashari, the PPP official, said that Ms Bhutto wanted to share the report with them because she did not entirely trust the US Government, which still regards President Musharraf as a key ally in the War on Terror. “The idea was to discuss it with all the international stakeholders, mainly including Britain and the United States, but we didn’t want to share it with anyone who could use it against us,” he said.
“It would be unwise to do anything that would annoy Musharraf. and the international stakeholders. Everything could collapse if the Army comes to know that there is something substantial against them. It’s dangerous to name people in Pakistan.” Pakistani media reports have alleged the existence of an ISI safe house used to rig the elections and identified Ijaz Hussain Shah, a retired general who heads the civilian Intelligence Bureau, as one of those involved.
Mr Lashari also said that Ms Bhutto was planning to show the report with the British Ambassador, Robert Brin-kley. A spokesman for the British Embassy denied any knowledge of the report. The ISI does not have a spokes-person, but a government official dismissed the allegations as baseless.
UPDATE #5: Bhutto Was Shot in the Head, Despite Absurd Statements by Pakistani Government
Oh sure, the sunroof did it.
This is Channel4 video of the assassination:
UPDATE #4: Benazir Bhutto: Osama Bin Laden Murdered
Via: YouTube:
Aired on 2nd November 2007, David Frost the presenter did not challenge her on her assertion (2:14) that Bin Laden was murdered…
UPDATE #3: Pentagon Says Pakistan Nuclear Arsenal Secure (See Update 7 for translation)
Via: Reuters:
Pakistan’s nuclear weapons arsenal is secure despite political turmoil after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the Pentagon said on Friday.
“Our assessment is that the Pakistani nuclear arsenal is under control,” said Pentagon spokesman Col. Gary Keck. “At this time, we have no need for concern.”
Bhutto’s assassination on Thursday plunged Pakistan into crisis, triggering violent protests across her native province of Sindh.
It also helped push oil prices higher, drive the dollar lower and send money into less risky assets such as gold due to the additional political uncertainty in the region.
But U.S. military and defense officials have said Pakistan’s nuclear weapons remain securely under the control of the Pakistani military. Those officials have repeatedly called the Pakistani military a responsible steward of the arsenal and said it would remain out of country’s political conflict.
Concern about the security of the arsenal surfaced in November, when Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency, prompting protests and arrests.
Despite the Pentagon’s assurances, some experts and U.S. lawmakers have argued instability raises risks in Pakistan, where the military is still suspected by some of at least knowing about the smuggling activities of Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan network that sold weapons technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
UPDATE #2: Al-Qaida
Imagine my shock.
Via: AP:
Pakistan’s government announced it had evidence that an al-Qaida operative was behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, who was laid to rest Friday as the army tried to quell a frenzy of rioting that left 27 people dead less than two weeks before national elections.
UPDATE #1: U.S. Special Forces Are to Increase Presence in Pakistan
This must have been published just before Bhutto was assassinated. I guess the script was written long before the actors took to the stage. Whether Bhutto was assassinated by al-CIAida or not, the U.S. buildup was already underway.
Via: The Australian:
US Special Forces are to increase their presence in Pakistan amid assessments that the country is to become the central battlefield for al-Qa’ida as it is driven from Iraq.
“Pakistan should be carefully watched because it could prove to be a significant flashpoint in the coming year,” US think tank Strategic Forecasting said in an evaluation of al-Qa’ida’s tactics as the Islamist group comes under mounting pressure in Iraq.
With the “rapid spread of Talibanisation” in Pakistan’s insurgent northwest, the country would become “especially important if the trend in Iraq continues to go against the jihadis and they are driven from Iraq”, the assessment says.
“As the global headquarters for the al-Qa’ida leadership, Pakistan has long been a significant stronghold on the ideological battlefield. If the trend towards radicalisation continues, the country could become the new centre of gravity for the jihadi movement on the physical battlefield.”
The Stratfor assessment coincided with reports from Washington suggesting US Special Forces would expand their presence in Pakistan in the new year.
The boost in US forces was part of an effort to train and support Pakistan’s army in its fight to stem the al-Qa’ida and Taliban-linked insurgency.
The Washington reports reflected Pentagon frustration with the Pakistani counter-insurgency effort, and said the head of the US Special Operations Command, Admiral Eric T. Olson, had made a series of visits to the country for discussions with senior military leaders.
“The first US (Special Forces) personnel could be on the ground in Pakistan early in the new year”, according to the reports.
US Central Command chief Admiral William Fallon said the US forces would provide training and mentoring based on the US experience with the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
No immediate independent confirmation of the deployment was available in Islamabad yesterday. But the US reports coincided with the disclosure of an ambitious 15-year “anti-terror investment plan” for Pakistan that has been high on the agenda of US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte in recent visits to Islamabad.
According to reports in Pakistan, areas in the North West Frontier Province, the federally administered tribal areas, Baluchistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir were earmarked for investment that would boost education and employment in an effort to wean local tribesmen away from their support for the jihadi movement.
The area, seen as crucial in the battle against al-Qa’ida and the Taliban, was the subject of a summit meeting in Islamabad yesterday involving President Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai.
The two leaders held what sources described as “unusually cordial and friendly” meetings on how to boost co-operation in the war against the jihadis. They agreed to intensify their exchanges of intelligence, something Mr Musharraf described as “the key to fighting and enhancing our capability against terrorists and extremists”.
Mr Karzai said: “Afghanistan and Pakistan are twins. More than that, they are joined at thebody.”
As the two leaders were meeting, security surrounding opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on the election campaign trail was strengthened after two bomb blasts ahead of a rally of her Pakistan People’s Party in a stadium in Peshawar.
— END UPDATES —
This situation actually has the potential to involve the U.S. Military. While the action likely wouldn’t be acknowledged, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a contingency plan for U.S. Special Forces to secure Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in the event of a civil war.
We might be looking at the beginning of a civil war with this assassination.
Via: AFP:
Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide attack on Thursday, just two months after the former premier returned from exile for a political comeback.
Bhutto, a two-time former prime minister, had just addressed a campaign rally for next month’s parliamentary elections when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the venue, killing her and at least 10 other people.
There were unconfirmed reports that the attacker had also opened fire on her with a weapon before the explosion.
“It may have been pellets packed into the suicide bomber’s vest that hit her,” interior ministry spokesman Javed Cheema told AFP.
It was the second suicide attack at a Bhutto event since she had returned from exile in October, aiming to contest the elections, and comes amid an unprecedented wave of violence in the country.
The deadliest terror attack in Pakistan’s history targetted her homecoming rally just hours after her return, leaving 139 people dead.
After that attack, authorities repeatedly warned her they had information that Islamic militants were trying to killer her.
Government officials said President Pervez Musharraf had been privately told of her death.
The killing will deepen the political crisis in Pakistan, where Islamic militants have vowed to disrupt the vote and Musharraf’s opponents — including Bhutto — accused him of planning to rig the result.
There have been more than 40 suicide attacks in Pakistan this year that have left at least 770 people dead.
Bhutto, educated at Oxford and Harvard, became the first female prime minister of a Muslim country when she took the helm in Pakistan in 1988. Her father, also a Pakistani prime minister, was also assassinated, in 1979.
Recalling how she stood at his grave, Bhutto once wrote: “At that moment I pledged to myself that I would not rest until democracy had returned to Pakistan.”
A horrifying event, without question. I firmly believe that Ms. Bhutto (and certainly those close to her) knew that she would likely be assasinated. Pervez Musharraf regime provided no real security, it was just a matter of time before some agent of any one of the power players acted. It is a testament to her character that she faced such an outcome without flinching, and stood up to the awesome forces opposing her.
The death of Ms. Bhutto is a loss of a freedom fighter. The history of her family and what they have sacrificied for Pakistan is a tale of woe, murder, and political destruction by foes. I for one DO get why a person would go into the line of fire for country, restoring honor to the family name,etc. I also don’t think I have the balls to do this for any country. Time will tell.
This is a life cut off just prior to its bloom. I agree with Kevin. Surely,the U.S. might have to pull a few special guards off of the poppy fields in Afghanistan and the oil fields in Iraq to attend to its nuclear power compatriot in Pakistan. But a little bird told me several months ago the ways and means to protect the nuclear arsenal there are well underway.
But that does not mean that Pakistan will not descend into utter chaos. I think that is a given. The iron fist (or dick) of the Mush (arffah) regime, by this death, just got a little softer, and lost MOST of its hard on.
Astrologically, we are at an Aries Point. Events of recent lore that occurred at these points include 9/11, the Tsunami in Indionesia, and Hurricane Katrina. So certainly, this is a world changing event. Google Aries Point if interested.
Om Namah Shivaye Bhutto.
Find Peace Joy and Happiness in your reconciliation with the elements.
Bullets Cut Short a life of Epic sweep
http://tinyurl.com/27z9ur
Why I am Returning to Pakistan
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/benazir-bhutto/why-im-returning-to-paki_b_62792.html
Favorite quote: “Mr Karzai said: “Afghanistan and Pakistan are twins. More than that, they are joined at the body.””
Well, then, it only make sense that we take control of Pakistan, too! Thanks for clearing that up, Mr. Karzai!
“State and local law enforcement officials are focusing on security for Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses next week. Jim Saunders of the Department of Public Safety says agencies are coordinating efforts and sharing information to make sure the caucuses come off without a hitch.”
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/12881032.html
No offense, but to be a leading politician, especially in a country like Pakistan, you have to be one serious, opportunistic, compromising, iron-fisted, power-seeking, de facto corrupt bad ass. You are not likely to be a saint. But maybe she was the lesser of two evils. The U.S. treatment of Pakistan is so similar to the actions of the Roman Empire, it is eerie. It makes me think that the U.S. will succeed in effectively rooting out terrorism, as Rome effectively eliminated resistance to its power. What was the result? As sick a society as ever was seen on the face of the earth; a pathetic collection of seething, semi-civilized tribes noodling in and out of the attention of the utterly decadent Roman empire, staggering around Europe and the Mediterranean like a greasy, drunken meth addict at a AC/DC reunion concert. Christianity HAD to happen, or else see the world sink into oblivion. And now Christianity is the staggering freak. Oh well. As they say, what goes around comes around.
Yes. She got into power thanks to the family name, via her fathers death.
When in power she was “compromising” the first time round.
This time she got better advisers ie much more direct contact with the ppl.
She was “good” as she would let US troops in and all the past “compromising” would be history.
Peregrino tosses a bullseye.
Benazir Bhutto is/was as much an agent of the west as any “legitimate” politician must be to receive mainstream media coverage. She is/was the Clinton to Musharraf’s Bush. She is the imagined opposition, used to polarize and divide even as she spouts the usual drivel about democracy and the will of the people.
Do the math. Her father was a major political figure, also assassinated. Two brothers hijacked a plane and killed passengers. Now, the surviving one is now making noise about entering politics along with her husband.
While Musharraf and friends were surely gunning for her, most likely for their own selfish reasons of survival, I suspect two critical mistakes on her part sealed the deal.
First, she stated that there was no need for American troops in Pakistan. An offering to the local populace to enhance her credibility, we can be fairly certain it was a hollow statement, but in the theater of world opinion it was a point of no return. Such ideas will simply not be tolerated in any asset, no matter how hollow the words behind the forbidden meme.
Second was what MAY have been a faux pas during the Frost interview, threatening to compromise ongoing western propaganda efforts. Stating aloud to the world that ObL was “murdered”, while his ghost appears to still be hard at work in the newspapers, might cause some trouble.
Like Indira Gandhi, she cultivated a motherly image as the matriarch of Pakistan. Such appeals pluck firmly at the heartstrings of all but we the over-informed cynics. And also like Gandhi, she has no qualms about steering the ship of state directly over anyone who gets in her way.
She is a martyr only in the sense that her life was taken fighting for her particular version of Pakistan. The real question is: whose version was it that she was really advocating? Who was pulling HER strings? As ever, Cui bono?
With what perspective I can gather, given her recent appearance before the CFR and their “sign-off” on her efforts, my suspicions lean toward Musharraf’s ISI prolonging his stay as long as possible, most likely by way of stalling long enough to allow the US military time to get a more solid foothold.
One could certainly also conclude that such an act would go along way toward creating the appearance of in-fighting, even if actual internecine conflict isn’t in play. Another one of those thin-veil moments, like Z-Big’s speech before the Senate. We know power is being shifted behind the scenes, we just don’t know exactly why.
For those still caught up in the mainstream “martyrdom” meme being pushed by the CNN set, here’s a taste of the real Benazir Bhutto:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/pakistan-needs-politicians-from-grassroots/2007/09/03/1188783155976.html
http://winterpatriot.blogspot.com/2007/12/democracy-in-action-slain-leaders-crown.html
(Via the above)
‘Several senior counterterror officials have told The News that Bin Laden’s Egyptian deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in particular, is suspected of getting protection from rogue[sic] Pakistani government operatives – most likely retired – who have kept him safe and able to freely communicate during six years on the lam.
Al Qaeda has released a record 94 video and audiotapes this year, including 13 statements by Zawahiri, according to the IntelCenter research firm.
***
Days before Bhutto’s slaying, the brazen Al Qaeda leader invited journalists to submit questions to him in a virtual press conference on jihadi Web sites.
New York University’s Barnett Rubin[CFR], an expert on the region, said Indian intelligence officials are convinced Zawahiri is aided by allies within Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, despite[sic] its alliance with the CIA.’
See also recent coverage at
dictatorshipwatch.com
& globalresearch.ca