Bhutto killed

It could not have come as much of a surprise that Bhutto was assassinated. She had feared for her life for a long time and had asked for tight security that was promised her by Musharif. So where was it? How could it have happened that a young man with an automatic pistol and a bomb could get so close to her? Obviously there was a breakdown in security. But why? If you ask yourself who would gain from her death it is obvious that Musharif stood to gain. But does that make him guilty? He, of course, blames terrorists (everyone blames terrorists nowadays for everything). What would the terrorists have gained except, perhaps, chaos? In any case she is no longer a player in Pakistan politics and apparently there is no one to take her place. Thus Pakistan is in an even more precarious situation than before this unfortunate event. What I find the most interesting about this development is that Bush phoned Musharif and insisted that Pakistan go ahead with their elections, scheduled in just a few days. This seems to me strange advice unless Bush thinks his buddy Musharif will win and his dictatorship will continue (so much for Bush's interest in democracy). Dodd, with his many years of experience, says the elections should be postponed until Bhutto's party can regroup. If this does not happen there would only be one other candidate to run against Musharif and he is not regarded as having much chance (of course the election will be "fixed" in any case). If they were to wait there would be at least a chance for a democratic election.

Who among our Presidential candidates stands to benefit from Bhutto's death? I guess it is obvious that those with the most experience would be the ones. This means Hillary and McCain, because Dodd, Biden, and the others have already been dismissed. Richardson came out with the most incredibly stupid idea of all, insisting that Musharif resign and leave the country truly in chaos (with all those nuclear warheads up for grabs). How Osama bin Laden must be loving this! Not only has he managed to get Bush to do everything he wanted, and got everyone flying to remove their shoes and stop taking their toothpaste, he's now created an even more safe haven for himself in Pakistan (if, indeed, that's where he really is). What would Osama have done without Bush? Not much, I suspect.

I guess Bush/Cheney could try to reinstate a draft, raise a military force of two or three million, put the country on an all-out war footing, and invade Afghanistan. That seems unlikely at the moment and would probably fail anyway with Bush at the helm. So just what in the hell are we doing in Afghanistan anyway? Everyone knows we can't possibly "win," and it's a completely lost cause unless the goal is to promote endless war (which, for Bush/Cheney and their Brafia, it is).

The only "war" they seem to be winning is the war on the middle class. The war on drugs has been completely lost, and the war on poverty never even got off the ground. We lost the war in Korea, lost the war in Vietnam, are losing big-time in Iraq and Afghanistan, lost in Lebanon, and will lose for certain if we foolishly try to take on Iran. But who cares if we're losing everywhere, the military/industrial/political complex is making money hand over fist. It's a great time to be alive, if you're a CEO or a national politician. So let's hear it for war!

LKBIQ:
"You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame: how could you become new, if you had not first become ashes?
Thus Spake Zarathustra