Alternative Obituary: Benizar Bhutto

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Benizar Bhutto

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As usual the media is trying to present complex issues in the most simplistic way - good or bad, black or white etc. It's news by bumper sticker. Big T's article highlighting the British Times clearly illistrates this. So before we name Benizar Bhutto as Pakistan's "Heroin of Democracy" here are a few inconvenient facts......

Benazir Bhutto came from a family of wealthy landowners and Pakistan’s political elite. She was the daughter of the Pakistan Prime Minister from 1970-77, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Her father earned the reputation as an arrogant despot who tortured his political opponents and rigged elections. He was executed on the orders of General Zia in a corruption trial with little judicial process – in fact, similar to trials Ali Bhutto inflicted on his opponents.

Benazir Bhutto took Asif Zardari as her husband through an arranged marriage. He had reputation as a corrupt businessman and, later, became very wealthy. He gained the name of “Mr. Ten Percent” as he traded on his wife’s reputation and formed the basis of the {politically motivated} corruption charges against her, while in office.

Banazir Bhutto had two brothers who were international terrorists. Their organization, Al Zulfikar, hijacked civil aircraft in the 1980’s.

As Prime Minister Benizar Bhutto attempted to control the press and the judiciary in the way  General Musharraf does now.

My intention is not to denigrate Benazir Bhutto, but only to give some insight into what it means to be a politician in Pakistan. In other words this is not politics, or democracy, that westerners would relate to. Benazir Bhutto was an acceptable politician to the west, as well as a popular figure in some parts of her own country. But her popularity was on a downward slope as Washington, yet again, persued a foreign policy without understanding its implications that is now working against the interests of the United States. 

"Washington’s commitment to Gen Musharraf as a vital asset in the “war on terror” led it to promote an alliance between the general and Ms Bhutto. This was shortsighted. Rather than support the democratic revival of civil society, seen above all in this year’s lawyers’ movement against the regime and the vigour of the local press, the US sought to use Ms Bhutto as a figleaf of democracy – widening further the already extensive circle of her enemies." {Financial Times}

Above all Benizar Bhutto would have proved, alongside with General Musharraf, to be a responsible key holder of Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons. This cannot be said of Pakistan’s Islamist alternatives. As John Bolton has continued to argue, the stability of these weapons must come before anything else - including the persuit of democracy.

The Anglo American