Benazir

When I heard about the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto this morning on my way to work, I reflexively pounded the steering wheel and cursed into the darkness of my truck. Not that the news was unexpected -- every time I read about some public appearance or speech she gave since returning from exile, an icicle of fear stabbed at my gut and I wondered how long until...

I've always thought Benazir Bhutto was nothing short of amazing. A woman in leadership is unusual enough in that part of the world, but Bhutto's bravery in carrying on her father's political legacy was truly inspiring. And in a part of the world dominated by military and theocratic dictatorships, the democratic Bhutto seemed like a light at the end of a very dark tunnel. And now?

"This is an immense tragedy," said Raheel Raza, the Toronto-based author of Their Jihad ... Not My Jihad. "It is a blow in the face of democracy, human rights, women's rights, everything that we look forward to in a democracy."

Raza, who interviewed Bhutto five years ago, said Thursday's slaying is seen as "a win for the Islamists, the extremists, because they have been allowed to take the life of a woman. They could never come to terms with the fact a woman could be leader and she would bring about democracy."

It's not hard to figure out who might have been behind this: as the saying goes, follow the money. Who benefits? It looks like someone (probably the notorious ISI) has not only given President Musharraf a pretext for imposing some form of martial law, but an opportunity to delay Pakistan's upcoming election indefinitely, while eliminating his most threatening competition. And while Musharraf may not be directly responsible for the assassination, one might wonder whether it was partly orchestrated by his failure to prevent it.