Pakistan: more new video

Amid rumours that Pakistan is considering delaying its January 8 elections (well, no kidding), a new videotape has emerged that seems to support the original explanation of the Bhutto assassination -- she was shot:

"The tape provides the clearest view yet of the attack and appears to show that Bhutto was shot. That would contradict the Pakistan government's account.

A previously released videotape shows a man at the right of her vehicle raising a gun, pointing it toward Bhutto, who is standing in her car with her upper body through the sunroof. He fires three shots. Then, there is an explosion.

In the video that emerged Sunday, Bhutto is standing, and her hair and scarf appear to move, perhaps from the bullet. Bhutto falls into the car. Then, the blast.

These images seem to support the theory that Bhutto died at the hands of a shooter before a bomb was detonated, killing another 23 people.

Everyone inside Bhutto's bomb-proof car lived. Those traveling with her say they saw her bleeding, and the heavily blood-stained interior appears to support their accounts."

Watch the tape here.

So how many does that make: (1) She was shot, (2) She was hit by shrapnel from the bomb, (3) She died of a concussion sustained when her head hit the sunroof, (4) She was shot.

No bullet

From Pakistan today, this depressing bit of spin:

"X-ray showed no sign of bullet injury in PPP leader Benazir Bhutto's body, the doctor who treated her at Rawalpindi hospital said.

The doctor claimed that Benazir's death was due to some shrapnel, which hit her head and fractured it.

He also added that Benazir's cardiac arrest was due to brain injury.

The Pakistan government has also said she did not die of bullet injuries." [...]

"However, the earlier version was quite different. It was said that the assassin was at the entrance to the rally ground, standing in the middle of a crowd of PPP workers shouting slogans.

Benazir stopped the car and stood out from the sunroof of the SUV to wave at party workers. The lone assassin was standing behind the car and he now fired three shots at Benazir Bhutto from close range."

Hmm. Could ballistics testing identify military-issue bullets? Just a thought. Although I guess we can assume that anyone close enough to have clearly seen what really happened isn't in a position to talk about it at this point.

Update: And now they're saying it wasn't shrapnel either, she died from hitting her head on the vehicle's sunroof after the blast. Um err, yeah right. Nothing to see here...

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.