There are so many things that as a westerner we can not understand about politics of other countries. This is especially true of Islamic dominated countries such as Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto may or may not have had great policy ideas. Heck most of our leaders don’t have great policy ideas. We don’t know if there was any merit to the charges leveled against her. We can’t know who she owed allegiance to internationally.
What we do know is that she had a large following. It was one that threatened some faction in the region enough to see to it she never had a chance compete an election. We know that, like any other aspiring leader of a country, she had a high self opinion. We know that she had more resources then the average Pakistani. We know that for what ever reason, she felt that getting elected was worth seriously risking her life. If just for money or power, then risking her life would seem kind of diminished. So we can safely assume there was more sincerity in her intentions then 90% of the candidates here in the United States.
The assignation of Benazir Bhutto has shown how a distraction from what should have been “the mission” of the United States after 9/11 has failed. It has allowed the Islamic radical extremist that George Bush Jr. was supposed to be trying to rid the world of to get a crucial win against democracy. This win occurred in a country that actually has nuclear weapons. Any way you would like to slice this, until today there was at least two viable candidates for Pakistani’s democratic elections. Now there is only one. Had the US and their few supporters concentrated their resources on the region of the middle east where the religious nut jobs actually lived and recruited, then this end might not have been so likely. Instead the bush administration concentrated on protecting their corporate interest.
The Bush administration and his cronies like to tote out “the Surge” like it was some kid of strategy that won. Great, violence in Iraq is down in Baghdad. The people that they claim is the target of the US Middle East policy do not observe borders laid out by western governing agencies. They have no country, no absolute structure, and no observance of borders. They do have time and space. Clamp down in Baghdad, they will shift focus to Lebanon, or Afghanistan, or somewhere else not being overprotected. They live in the area of contention. They can sit at home and wait. In the end we will find the “The Surge” will have been as successful as “Shock and Awe”. It will hit the target but miss the point.
What we do know is that she had a large following. It was one that threatened some faction in the region enough to see to it she never had a chance compete an election. We know that, like any other aspiring leader of a country, she had a high self opinion. We know that she had more resources then the average Pakistani. We know that for what ever reason, she felt that getting elected was worth seriously risking her life. If just for money or power, then risking her life would seem kind of diminished. So we can safely assume there was more sincerity in her intentions then 90% of the candidates here in the United States.
The assignation of Benazir Bhutto has shown how a distraction from what should have been “the mission” of the United States after 9/11 has failed. It has allowed the Islamic radical extremist that George Bush Jr. was supposed to be trying to rid the world of to get a crucial win against democracy. This win occurred in a country that actually has nuclear weapons. Any way you would like to slice this, until today there was at least two viable candidates for Pakistani’s democratic elections. Now there is only one. Had the US and their few supporters concentrated their resources on the region of the middle east where the religious nut jobs actually lived and recruited, then this end might not have been so likely. Instead the bush administration concentrated on protecting their corporate interest.
The Bush administration and his cronies like to tote out “the Surge” like it was some kid of strategy that won. Great, violence in Iraq is down in Baghdad. The people that they claim is the target of the US Middle East policy do not observe borders laid out by western governing agencies. They have no country, no absolute structure, and no observance of borders. They do have time and space. Clamp down in Baghdad, they will shift focus to Lebanon, or Afghanistan, or somewhere else not being overprotected. They live in the area of contention. They can sit at home and wait. In the end we will find the “The Surge” will have been as successful as “Shock and Awe”. It will hit the target but miss the point.
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