Friday, December 28, 2007

Inches

Pakistani investigators reconstructed a mangled human head on Friday hoping to identify the man suspected of killing opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a suicide attack. ... "We have retrieved a head and it has been reconstructed. We also found fingers and we're carrying out DNA tests to make a comparison between the head and fingers," said Saud Aziz, police chief in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad.

And so begins the political effort to set the narrative. The odds are that Benazir Bhutto was killed by Islamic militants -- with the possible cooperation of members of the uniformed Pakistani military. While that kind of muddled storyline may be the truth, complex reality is a difficult foundation upon which to unify a nation. Politics needs simple stories, one that depicts a struggle of good against evil; white hats versus black hats. And there are probably no simple stories in Pakistan.



Ali Ertaz, writing in Pajamas Media argues that since there are no institutions left in Pakistan capable of determining simple guilt or innocence any more, only an international and independent panel can point the compass north again in a society that has lost its way. In a polity where nothing can be taken on trust everything must be rebuilt, like the suicide bomber's face, from the fragments of first principles.

But even if consensus on who killed Benzair Bhutto can be reached it will only be a beginning. Yet this is how credibility is rebuilt: from a finger here and part of a face there to the picture of a murderer. Because from the likeness of a common foe comes the awakening to a shared danger. And in that mutual interest in survival may lie whatever chance Pakistan has of remaining a single nation. It's where the narrative starts, but not where it ends.

Update

Pakistani officials are saying that Bhutto accidentally killed herself by ducking into a metal object.

Pakistan's interior ministry said Friday that Benazir Bhutto died from hitting her vehicle's sunroof when she tried to duck after a suicide attack, and that no bullet or shrapnel was found in her.

Ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said the opposition leader had died from a head wound she sustained when she smashed against the sunroof's lever as she tried to shelter inside the car.

"The lever struck near her right ear and fractured her skull," Cheema said. "There was no bullet or metal shrapnel found in the injury."

First Bhutto was reported killed from bullets, then from shrapnel. Now from concussion. Captain Ed notices that Bhutto was the only person in the car to sustain injuries. A suspicious person given to conspiracy theories might wonder if she wasn't killed in the car. Maybe we do need an independent commission to work out the facts.

12 Comments:

Blogger Doug said...

A Photographer’s Account
John Moore was covering the rally at which Ms. Bhutto was assassinated.
Professional at work: Sets the camera on high speed capture after moment of shooting, recording the explosion.

12/28/2007 07:12:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Moore says previous appearances were small and not previously announced.
This one had been announced weeks in advance, w/large crowds.
Not the ideal place to poke your head up, she was carried away by the crowd/reaction to her passionate Anti-Terror Speech.

Far cry from Harvard, wearing a Rolling Stones T-Shirt, but Bill Bennet was there, as were others on the right.
(Not too stoned to notice, IOW)
...although Bill was not yet on the right!

12/28/2007 07:17:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Deuce posted this Montage of Moore's Photos

12/28/2007 07:26:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Deuce said,
No bullet, head injury killed Benazir: Pak govt

By IBNlive.com
Friday December 28, 07:23 PM
New Delhi: Mystery shrouds the death of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto. In an explosive revelation, Pakistan's Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz on Friday said that Bhutto did not die of bullet wounds.

Nawaz said that Bhutto died from a head injury. At least seven doctors from the Rawalpindi General Hospital – where the leader was rushed immediately after the attack – say there were no bullet marks on Bhutto's body.

The doctors have submitted a report to the Pakistan government in which they say that no post-mortem was performed on Bhutto’s body and they had not received any instructions to perform one.

“The report says she had head injuries – an irregular patch – and the X-ray doesn’t show any bullet in the head. So it was probably the shrapnel or any other thing has struck her in her said. That damaged her brain, causing it to ooze and her death. The report categorically ssyas there’s no wound other than that,” Nawaz told a Pakistani news channel.

Fri Dec 28, 10:25:00 AM EST

Doug said...
Yet Moore reports hearing the shots seeing her go down, THEN starts the video capture of the explosion.
Don't add up!

12/28/2007 07:35:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

We don't need no stinking post-mortem!

12/28/2007 07:36:00 AM  
Blogger RWE said...

Here is what Debbie Schlussel says about the dearly departed:
(http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/12/bhutto_was_no_s.html)

"The "moderate" Bhutto was actually a Saudi-backed, anti-Semitic, pro-Palestinian-terrorism force of instability, anarchy, and protest in Pakistan."

and

"Not long after 9/11, she made the rounds on Sunday political TV shows (including NBC's "Meet the Press"), uttering the same extremist platitudes against Israel and the Jews to even the amazement of the hosts (including Tim Russert). Ditto for her repeated pronouncements justifying and defending Palestinian homicide bombings against innocent civilians."

I did not know it was that bad, but I have thought for some time that Musharraf was about as good as we can expect to get in Pakistan - or any Muslim country for that matter, or at least the ones we do not invade. At least he stood up at an International Islamic Leadership Conference shortly after 9/11/01 and asked the others what in the hell was the matter with Muslims. Meanwhile, the opposition leader was on U.S. TV blaming Israel.

Or to put it in other terms, the Imperial Japanese Navy has just come over the horizon, Who do you want leading tour third world country? A Ferdinad Marcos or a Cory Acquino? Not much of a choice - and the preferred alternative - a MacArthur - is not always available - not that the General approached being close to flawless.

12/28/2007 08:13:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

At least Doug was no shrinking violet!
---
EVERYBODY Had religion right after 9-11, even the Mullahs.
...then came the JAGS.

12/28/2007 08:18:00 AM  
Blogger NahnCee said...

Doug said...
Yet Moore reports hearing the shots seeing her go down, THEN starts the video capture of the explosion.
Don't add up!>


Moore reported seeing her descend back down into the car -- he didn't report seeing blood spurting or anything consistend with a bullet wound. Nevertheless, I find it difficult to believe that she managed to inflict a fatal head wound on herself by ducking. I wonder who else was in the car with her, maybe carrying a heavy blunt object.

Other global comment is the use of the word "shock" to describe reactions to Bhutto's decease. The only shock involved is why it took the terrorists so long. Bet-makers in Vegas should have been running odds on how many days she would last once she re-entered the country. It was a sure bet that she would die sooner rather than later, and if Musharref decides to stick around his days are surely numbered, too.

Question: is it a good idea for Bush to fly to the Middle East to meet with these camel thieves over whatever their current concerns are? American Secret Service is the best, but it appears to me that every other mother's son in the whole Middle East is now a potential suicide bomber / shooter / beheader / hanger-until-their-head-pops-off-er.

12/28/2007 10:16:00 AM  
Blogger tckurd said...

I'm drinking some of Nancee's koolaid on this one. I thought the same thing: she won't last long. So I was only surprised at how long.


The good news is that during the riots more people were killed.

Is it me, or is there something almost animal-like about these people: I can't stop thinking about the 2001: Space Odyssey movie beginning (Dawn of Reason part I think it is called.) Screaming death-apes.

To mourn death, they cause more death, by riots.

To put it into my perspective, if H. Clinton were killed right now, would the Left/Democrats in this country rise up and riot, and kill people, most likely their own?

I recently attended my Dad's funeral - his companion of 26 years did NOT, I repeat, did NOT, kill anyone while mourning.

These are just the thoughts swimming in the koolaid.

12/28/2007 11:03:00 AM  
Blogger Lucky Pierre said...

tckurd: To put it into my perspective, if H. Clinton were killed right now, would the Left/Democrats in this country rise up and riot, and kill people, most likely their own?

No, but if the Roberts Supreme Court were to rule that Bush could run for a third term because he wrote the exception in a signing statement, and if he beat Clinton by one state, then Democrats would riot.

12/28/2007 11:28:00 AM  
Blogger NahnCee said...

Ooooohhhhhh - roasted Democrats. Yum.

12/28/2007 12:14:00 PM  
Blogger tckurd said...

That brings up an interesting question. In the primary republican race, who would win of the contenders were:

G. W. Bush (via exception)

M. Romney

M. Huckabee

R. Guiliani

R. Paul

J. McCain
(I think I got the majors)

Would the party default renominate the sitting President?

If G.W. Bush was matched up againt Her Royal Clintoness, who would win?

I suggest a write-in candidate would win. I'm not against Mr. Bush - he's just making the best lemonade he can.

12/28/2007 03:51:00 PM  

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