Pakistan .........of course

Well, poor old Pakistan is back on the front pages of American newspapers again. All it took was for a political assassination to get there.
This murder was not a surprise to anybody who has any knowledge of that country and the relatively recent history of it. In fact it could have been seen coming by a blind man.
The "big question" of the moment is; who is responsible for her death. Well, one candidate, indirectly, is the US of A and the criminal Bush administration. Bush and crew had worked out some sort of deal between Ms. Bhutto and the current leader of Pakistan, Mr. Musharraf for her to return to Pakistan and run in the up-coming elections. This "deal" included, among other things, dropping the corruption charges pending against her. During her two terms as prime minister, she is alleged to have "skimmed" close to $1 billion dollars from the national treasury. Being leader can pay quite well for some. Her husband had earned(?) the nick-name of "Mr. 10 Percent" as all government contracts apparently had to have his approval, which included a 10% fee, paid to him of course. Not a bad deal, keep it in the family, ya know.
America and the policy makers in the government had to have know all this before they set up any sort of deal. Hell, I knew some of this and I do not make it a point to study current events in Pakistan. I just had paid attention to news in the past, oh say 45+ years of my life. Why only that time period? Well, I am just 60 years old is why.
If I can pay attention to news, even what passes for news in the America of today, one would think(?) that the high ranking members of our government would do so as well. Hell, shouldn't our State Department people be "up" on the world news? I sure as hell think it would be demanded of them. Why else do they have a job in the State Department if they don't have a clue to what is happening in the world. Among other qualifications for employment in the State Department, I would think knowing world history would be right near the top. Of course, I only have an Associates degree from a community college, so what the hell do I know? Not enough to have a government job. Or, maybe I DO know enough to not work for the government.
Either way, the Bush administration has some responsibility for the death of Ms. Bhutto. No, it is not enough for them to be taken to court for it. I do not even accuse them of being involved with her death. Only to point out that by brokering a deal for her return to Pakistan, they were, indirectly perhaps, but still doing so, setting up the circumstances that did lead to her death. Had she remained in self-imposed exile, she would not have been killed as she was. She may have lived to a ripe old age. I would guess that the idea of returning to power was too much for her to pass up. I guess having power, then being out of power makes one crave to be back in power again. I wouldn't know, I never had any power to lose, thankfully.
Another thing being said about the late Ms. Bhutto is that she was the "last best hope" for democracy in Pakistan. Bullshit! She was not a democrat by any means. She was NOT a woman of her people either. She cared about as much for the average Pakistani as Bush cares for the average American. She, like Bush, craved power and money. Period.
Another thing for you to think on. Ms. Bhutto helped the Taliban government in Afghanistan. In fact, during her reign as prime minister, Pakistan was one of the very few countries in the world to officially recognize the Taliban government.Her government also aided the Taliban with money and arms, so I find it hard to call her a democrat, or an anti-terrorist leader. Then, as with our own government, your terrorist just might be my freedom fighter. It all seems to depend on who is naming the "terrorists".
For the record, I want to add that I am saddened by the death of Ms. Bhutto. While she may not have been a great democrat, or any sort of democrat. While she may well have been guilty of theft of huge sums of money from the Pakistan treasury. While she may not have done much, if anything for the people of her country. One fact remains, she did NOT deserve to die as she did. Any death diminishes us all, and hers will play out on more than just the Pakistani stage, it will play out on the world stage. The fallout from her violent death is just beginning. It is going to be one hell of a bumpy ride folks.
semper fi