The investigation into Benazir Bhutto's assassination seems to be all but wrapped up.
She wasn't killed by bullets or shrapnel. A spokesman for Pakistan's Interior Ministry, Javed Iqbal Cheema, said that all three shots missed. It wasn't the shrapnel, either. It seems that she was ducking into her vehicle when the bomb's shock wave hit her, knocking her head into a lever attached to the sunroof.
That's plausible enough, but a surgeon who was trying to save her life yesterday, Dr. Mussadiq Khan, says that she was killed by shrapnel hitting her skull.
The Pakistan Interior Ministry's report is fast work. Here in America, it can take well over 24 hours to sort out what killed someone. But then, American coroners are generally a meticulous lot, and can get almost obsessive over verifiable facts when a major public official gets assassinated.
I also don't know what cultural values might encourage officials to find a plausible cause of death other than shrapnel or bullets.
Whatever the cause of death was, the Pakistani government seems to have proof that Al Qaeda is behind Bhutto's assassination. The Taliban, too. And they've got a transcript to prove it. The Associated Press (AP) published a copy, translated into English.
One of the people in the conversation is "militant leader Baitullah Mehsud," as the AP put it. We've heard about him before: He's the Pakistani tribal bigwig and Taliban leader who said he'd have suicide bombers ready when Bhutto came back to Pakistan. Looks like he may have kept his word.
Benazir Bhutto's husband would not allow an autopsy. I can understand that: facing a loss like that, many people don't feel like having their loved one's body cut up. On the other hand, an autopsy might have given more evidence about Bhutto's death.
And, while Pakistani government officials give official statements, Pakistanis are looting banks (seven in Multan), setting trains on fire, and burning tires. From the grassroots looters to the official spinmeisters, this isn't Pakistan's finest hour.
On the other hand, I sincerely hope that American leaders don't decide to abandon Pakistan. One of the last things the world needs right now is for a country with nuclear weapons to come under the control of Al Qaeda and/or the Taliban.
Posts about Benazir Bhutto.
Welcome to the 21st century. The Cold War, WWII, and WWI are over.
The 19th and 20th centuries' class conflicts and colonial issues are behind us.
"Oppressed proletariat" and "European expansionism" are no longer relevant.
Religious fanatics want their beliefs to rule the world.
Free people want to stay that way.
Here's my view of the 21st century's great conflict -
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Blogroll
Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1
Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.
In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.
- American Islamic Congress
- American-Islamic Forum for Democracy
- Americas Interests.blog an Australian's perspective (on January 29, 2009 the author announced the end of new posts, and explained his reasons for doing so. He is, however, keeping the 21 months of accumulated posts on line, because of "the role that it plays in a larger ecosystem of information" - I recommend AI as an archival resource. )
- Blog 4 Human Rights: Human Rights in Georgia (the nation) News, Opinions, Videos and Photos (Why blogroll this? Georgia is about 10% Muslim, very near the Middle East: and human rights is a critical part of the War on Terror.)
- CAIR Council on American-Islamic Relations
- The Capitol Tribune "A Journal by a Citizen and Servant of the Republic."
- The Conservative Hawk An articulate conservative blog: definitely political, opinionated, informed, and intelligent
- Defenders Council of Vermont "...our mission is to educate the citizens of Vermont about the nature, reality and threat of radical Islam, deepen Vermonters' understanding of America's heritage, honor the men and women of the armed services and their families, and support the efforts of others to help our armed forces work with local populations in foreign lands."
- DefenseLink Blogger's Roundtable provides source material for stories in the blogosphere concerning the Department of Defense (DoD) by bloggers and online journalists.
- FactCheck.org "aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics". It's "a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania". From what I've seen, this non-partisan website must be quite annoying to all sides
- Fiqh Council of North America "...a body of qualified Islamic scholars who live in the United States or Canada."
- Foreign Policy Watch "Diplomatic strategy, international news, and thoughtful political analysis"
- www.free-minds.org Another flavor of True Islam: one more articulate than many
- Free Muslims Coalition "American Muslims and Arabs of all backgrounds who feel that religious violence and terrorism have not been fully rejected by the Muslim community in the post 9-11 era."
- GlobalSecurity.org "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. We try to bring you the facts, to help you form your opinion."
- Hudson Institute: Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World
- IntelCenter "Our focus as a company is on studying terrorist groups and other threat actors and disseminating that information in a timely manner to those who can act on it."
- Iraq the Model "New points of view about the future of Iraq."
- Islam.com "...an information portal site on the internet that is pure, clean and 'worthy of its name', InshaAllah."
- islamispeace.org.uk "...invites you to challenge your ideas of Islam and Muslims."
- Islamic Circle of North America "... to seek the pleasure of Allah (SWT) through the struggle of Iqamat-ud-Deen (establishment of the Islamic system of life) as spelled out in the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)"
- Islamic Republic News Agency Iran's official news agency
- Islamic Society of Central Florida (ISCF) "...an organization which strives to serve the greater Central Florida community by catering to the social, religious, and educational needs of its Muslim inhabitants."
- Islamic Society of North America "...playing a pivotal role in extending those bridges to include all people of faith within North America...."
(but note another view) ) - Islamic World News أخبار العالم الاسلا
- Michael J. Totten's Middle East Journal The War on Terror, as observed on the ground
- Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center A research resource for United States Air Force Air University students, "provided as a public service by Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center and the Maxwell Support Division."
- Muslamics Affad Shaikh and "A Writing Collaborative" This American Muslim Affad Shaikh, a very west-coast Muslim Los Angelano
- Muslims Against Sharia An organization of Muslims, presumably dedicated "...to educate non-Muslims about the differences between moderate Muslims and Islamists..." - with a curious way of practicing Peace, Love Light, (words in their website's logo).
- National Interest, and as a corollary, Primacy "These are indeed my personal pontifications on the vicissitudes of International Affairs." (Be prepared for big words, long sentences: and unexpected insights.)
- PM’S World
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty "disseminating factual information and ideas"
- The Straits Times (Singapore) "...strives to be an authoritative provider of news and views, with special focus on Singapore and the Asian region...."
- Urban Conservative "Conservative 2.0 - A New Breed of Conservative
- Why Islam? "... articles, books etc on Islam and comparative religion. ... initiated by volunteers from ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America). ..."
Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.
In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.
2 comments:
As I write this I notice some breaking news about Al-Qaeda denying resposibilty. Speculation about who did it abounds.
I would strongly suggest that aid and assistance continues from Washington and the democratic process (if you could call it a) also continue on a path to elections. I am concerned that so many Pakistanis are sympathetic to terrorist bodies. In reality, what sort of result would democratic elections produce?
Palestinians voted for Hamas in Gaza, see my point? I posed the question on my blog...
American Interests,
In a recent poll in Pakistan, Islamic political parties drew 4% of the electorate's support. It's a stretch to assume that the same holds for support of terrorist bodies, but I suspect that many more are afraid of the terrorists, than actually support them.
Another point on this - about 1/10,000 of the Muslims at Hajj this year were at Iran's "Death to America!" rally. (I harangue about these points a little in yesterday's post, http://anotherwaronterrorblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/benazir-bhuttos-assassination-and-nawaz.html ).
Long URL, isn't it?
Now, to check out your blog.
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