"The Whole Thing Strikes Me As Very Unusual"

That's the quote of a shock trauma expert, puzzling over the ever-more-puzzling case of the assassination -- or bumping into the sunroof lever -- of Benazir Bhutto, as reported in this Washington Post story. The details get progressively more troubling: no freezing of the crime scene (just the opposite: a strange hurry in hosing it down shortly after the killing/bumping), the fear that pervades the physicians who worked in the emergency room on that case.

I normally have zero tolerance for conspiracy theory stories, but, forget the smell test, this one doesn't pass the "stinks like last month's fish" test.

UPDATE: McClatchy's Washington Bureau, the most consistent domestic source of accurate information about Iraq before and during the war, now posts a story reporting that a Bhutto aide says she was planning to meet with Sen. Spector and Rep. Patrick Kennedy later the evening of her final rally, to present them with evidence, and names, that Musharraf was prepared to rig the upcoming election.

UPDATE, TUESDAY EVENING: The Press Trust of India now reports the Pakistan government is apologizing for the "sunroof" explanation. (Hat tip:TPM)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pak_govt_makes_U-turn_on_cause_of_Bhuttos_death/articleshow/2666486.cms

Comments

[luziannagirl]

Oh, and here's a post-mortem "how did this happen" coverup closer to home for both of us---former New Orleans Mayor Ernest "Dutch" Morial. We won't go into the specifics of the most popular rumor, however...

[luziannagirl]

Yeah, "died from a bump to the head" doesn't exactly pass the smell test, does it?

But lots of high-profile deaths don't, whether they are full blown conspiracies, or details have been altered for whatever reason. JFK and Huey P. Long immediately spring to mind. Sometimes the reasons for cover-up are to prevent embarrassment for those agencies or individuals assigned to protect leaders.

[JerseyBob]

A vehicle identical to the one Bhutto was in when she was assassinated can bought on the open market and modified as necessary, to include security options that might have been incorporated into Bhutto's.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) may deny any activity related to procuring and testing such a vehicle. It has world class expertise. It has the dummies and other testing hardware needed for such tests. Such testing, replicate testing, and essentially non-destructive, can be conducted according to a number of hypothecated variables.

The suggestion that such testing might be undertaken, whether originating from the White House or from the NHTSA, and the disposition thereof, certainly would be known to the Secretary of Transportation.

And...who has custody of the vehicle Bhutto was in when she was assassinated? That would be very, very useful. It could be used in the testing. Would not Musharaff want confirmation of the truth?

[kellygrrrl]

The Shock Doctrine, indeed!

Maybe we as a People are snapping out of our collective ostrich position.

Someone let Dick Cheney know his time is coming.

John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich have each vowed to investigate the actions of the Bush Admin in effort to file criminal charges.
I think that would go a long way in the healing of the American and World psyche.

[doctordawg]

This is classic government-hit-style assassination. Hire the shooter who does the deed, then kill the shooter.

Do I KNOW this? Of course not. I'm just saying... Clean. Very clean.

Personally, I was surprised at how badly I took the news. I was in an airport watching the news with tears in my eyes. Bhutto touched a human element in me that no other politician ever has.

[WilliePilgrim]

Well a nation primed to believe as literal truth the imaginings of wool-spinning iron-age mesopotamians is already treading too close to the line that seperates reality from wish-filled fantasy. And yeah, I'm talking about both Pakistan and the Oval Office.

[thebarbarian]

Bhutto was killed because she knew too much.
Here is the real truth on video:

http://getrealnews.blogspot.com/2008/01/osama-bin-laden-is-dead-who-murdered.html

[tuckgraph]

Harry,
I don't expect you to dog this story like N'awlins and Katrina, and the levees. But it would be nice if you could. My first "huh?" moment was when they showed the gun used, lying in wet asphalt. No scratches! Since then, we've been served one whopper after another. It's like a not-so-new gorilla PR tactic. Make an outrageous statement of fact, so removed from truth that no one pursues that latter thing, the truth. And even if Pakistan Security forces facilitated this tragedy, what's anyone going to do about it? That's the scary part.

[DasBoatless]

Who's to say Bush wanted her in office. Remember the simple fact that the administration and many neo-cons are very much like al-quaeda in the fact that the thrive on the very chaos that they create and rely on it to maintain fear and power. The only difference is the religion...

[DRaymond]

I agree that the most plausible explaination is that she was killed by islamicist radicals, of which there is no shortage in Pakistan, and that there were collaborators inside of her security force. If Musharraf is guilty it is most likely through negligence.

Frankly I am a bit puzzled why it makes much difference whether she was killed by the gunshots, the explosion, or hitting her head on the roof. Neither really turns it into anything other than a political assasination.

[NATIONALSECURITY4US]

A 60 PAGE SECRET DOSSIER = I THINK SHE HAD A LOT MORE TO TELL SPECTOR & KENNEDY THAN JUST A CONSPIRED EFFORT TO RIG THE ELECTIONS...

CHECK OUT THESE POSSIBLE SCENARIOS

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=147509065&blogID=342194265

[samuraijack]

Just because Shearer sat next to her at a dinner party does not mean she is any different than any other politician. What if the corruption "rumors" were true? Why did she continually place innocent people (and her supporters) at risk even though there had been previous attacks, and guarantees there would be more?

[Zenobius]

For what it is worth, I incline toward B.Raman's theory that the assassins were Islamist members of Pakistan's army or air force, or ISI, possibly with a suicide bomber recruited from the NWFP.

This would make it one of a number of terrorist incidents that took place in Rawalpindi.

But it might have been done with Musharraf's knowledge. After all, it could have gone very badly for Musharraf if the PPP and the PML-N had won a 2/3 majority in Parliament, and formed a coalition, as was looking likely before the assassination, But it is looking even likelier now.

Anyway, thanks for a solid post.

[avicenna]

Bhutto's muddled assination is Pakistan's 9/11 - except the world this time around gets the opportunity to tease apart the situation and question what really happened and how.

[RepublicanBrain]

Motive. Opportunity. Decisive Evidence. Those are the three things we need to launch an investigation into a homicide.

Both Musharaf and Al-Qaida had motive. Bush really didn't. Bhutto wanted things that Bush supported: Democracy in Pakistan and a crackdown on extremists.

Both Musharaf and Al-Qaida had opportunity. It did, after all, take place in a country where they were located.

Now, the kicker, decisive evidence. The way Musharaf is acting is mighty suspicious, but that's not evidence on it's own. The statement about the sunroof is plain weird, but not decisive evidence. The fact that Bhutto had fatal injuries to her spinal cord (I remember a medical report about that), now that's decisive. She did not hit her spine on the sunroof.

We have what we need now. But, let's give credit where credit is due. Musharaf was the one who gave it to us.