Today's assassination of Benazir Bhutto will surely reverberate all the way to Iowa and New Hampshire. Her death not only has long term consequences for Pakistan's future, but will impact the presidential race at home since it will compel Republican and Democratic candidates to shift attention away from domestic issues to highlight their relative foreign policy experience as the world focuses on Bhutto's murder, and on Pakistan -- one of the most dangerous and unstable countries in the world.
During the coming days in the minds of many voters surely "experience" will trump "change" as Americans grapple with the unfolding tragedy and its potential impact on American national and homeland security.
Insofar as Pakistan is concerned, the only Muslim nation that has nuclear weapons, Benazir Bhutto promised that should her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) win the upcoming parliamentary elections, she would clamp down on Taliban and Al Qaeda sympathizers that vowed to kill her when she returned from exile on October 18. She leaves no identifiable successor to lead the PPP, and Pakistan today faces the prospect of more internal violence and consequently, more danger to American interests in this volatile region.
What can we expect in the coming days?
2. Bhutto had many enemies inside Pakistan, including President Musharraf, Islamic extremists parties, Taliban and Al Qaeda sympathizers and opponents within her own party. Which group or groups claim responsibility will determine how the all-powerful Pakistani army reacts to her murder and whether the country will spiral into a sustained period of violence and chaos.
3. Musharraf himself has been the target of 9 assassination attempts. The ease by which an assassin was able to penetrate Bhutto's security detail illustrates the determination of Pakistan's extremists to kill anyone who is a threat to their anti-democratic agenda. It will also cause many of Bhutto's supporters to point an accusing finger at Musharraf claiming that he intentionally did not provide enough security to Bhutto since she was a political threat to his rule.
4. For the U.S., the highest priority is whether Pakistan's nuclear weapons will remain under tight lock and key should the country descend into further chaos. The midnight oil will surely be burning in the Situation Room and in the Pentagon as Bush administration officials cope with the assassination's aftermath -- the most important challenge being whether Musharraf will be able to keep control of Pakistan's streets.
Pakistan may be 10,000 miles away from Iowa, but in the aftermath of Bhutto's assassination, events in Pakistan may very well shape the course of the closing days of the campaign.
Read more reactions from HuffPost bloggers on Benazir Bhutto's assassination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRJ2us-0ZaU&feature=user
Ohg.
http://thefiresidepost.com/2007/12/28/fear-must-not-choose-a-president/
To be more blunt, run with the generals. Nixon on hearing of Allende's assassination said through his State Department, Now we run with the Generals, no time to moralize about democracy.
All of Pakistan's nec's should be disarmed as soon as possible. Remove and secure all radioactive material.
Rolf
the media is bought and paid for by corporate america.
this country is becoming a joke. we look dumber with each passing day to the rest of the world.
and we wonder why the rest of the world considers us the worst threat to world peace in the world.
Seems to me that whoever is nominated to run against Bush should double their protection, as Pakistan is looking more and more like a dry run for Amerika.
We have a history of propping up dictators--can anyone spell C.I.A.?
Of course they won't. They need a nuclear weapon to end up in Iran so they can bomb that country. It will probably be the CIA that steals and then delivers it.
If only we had counter-proliferation expert Valerie Plame....
Now how much it changes things is anyone's guess. This is going to be a major news story for days. Every candidate is going to have to speak expecially on foreign policy issues. Domestic issues will take a back seat. Negetive campaigning will likely be minimal. It will be a differnt kind of campaign at least through New Hampshire.