Whoever killed Bhutto, they certainly achieved their short-term goal of killing her. Their longer-term goal was almost certainly to remove a popular, non-Islamist leader who was willing to deal with the "great Satan America."
The bad guys won the battle.
But this may be a case of 'win the battle, lose the war.' People who mourned Bhutto's death chanted, "as long as the moon and sun are alive, so is the name of Bhutto" at the mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh.
But, the bad guys created a martyr. I'm not talking about the guy who was probably looking forward to 72 virgins in a celestial whoopee house.
- Alive, Bhutto might or might not have made an effective Pakistani leader - again.
- Dead, Bhutto may become a symbol and rallying point for Pakistanis who want something more democratic and tolerant than what the likes of Al Qaeda have to offer.
Related posts, on Individuals and the War on Terror.
Posts about Benazir Bhutto.
(As a one-time historian, I can't help showing off. Gaining a short-term goal at the cost of a long-term goal isn't anything new. Back in the nineteenth century, "Pyrrhic victory" was coined to describe the situation. A little over two millennia ago, the king of Epirus, Pyrrhus, won a battle with Roman forces. "If I win a victory in one more battle with the Romans, I shall not have left a single soldier of those who crossed over with me" was his reaction.)
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