How Low Can They Go?

Here is the CNN headline....Did Hillary Clinton Kill Benazir Bhutto? Jane at FDL has more with a H/T to Rox Populi

It is actually shameful that our traditional media can stoop so low. I guess it is not too surprising since we get this from the NY Times.

On Thursday evening, officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin to local law enforcement agencies informing them about posts on some Islamic Web sites saying that Al Qaeda was claiming responsibility for the attack, and that the plot was orchestrated by Ayman al-Zawahri, the group’s second-ranking official.

One counterterrorism official in Washington said that the bulletin neither confirmed nor discredited these claims. The official said that American intelligence agencies had yet to come to any firm judgments about who was responsible for Ms. Bhutto’s death.

They don't really care what the truth is as long as they can use the news to further the idea that Al-Qaeda is responsible for everything bad and that if we don't continue to fund Bush's adventure then the dirty Muslims will be here in no time to rape your daughters and turn your sons into towel heads.

Benazir Bhutto Assassinated In Pakistan

From Reuters:

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, aides said.

“The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred,” Bhutto’s lawyer Babar Awan said.

A party security adviser said Bhutto was shot in neck and chest as she got into her vehicle to leave the rally in Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad. A gunman then blew himself up.

Nothing out of the White House yet, but this is a bad situation. It'll be interesting to see how they handle it. There are already predictions that Musharraf will invoke martial law again and cancel elections. Bush and company have dumped billions into Pakistan without any strings attached and have absolutely nothing to show for it. The military is controlling the country and is more than likely behind the attack on Bhutto. This assassination is the final straw and leaves the U.S. nothing to look forward to in Pakistan. It is going to get bad there.

$100 Million A Month! In Cash!

Why does this seem like a really bad idea? While I am sure Musharraf is as pristine as Snow White I just like to dot the i's and cross the t's, as it were. Surely no one on this side of the pond is getting any kickback. From TPM:

In fact, however, a considerable amount of the money the U.S. gives to Pakistan is administered not through U.S. agencies or joint U.S.-Pakistani programs. Instead, the U.S. gives Musharraf's government about $200 million annually and his military $100 million monthly in the form of direct cash transfers. Once that money leaves the U.S. Treasury, Musharraf can do with it whatever he wants. He needs only promise in a secret annual meeting that he'll use it to invest in the Pakistani people. And whatever happens as the result of Rice's review, few Pakistan watchers expect the cash transfers to end.

Chances are this payola is not going to stop over some silly "extraconstitutional measures".

He' Ours and We are Going to Keep Him

This is so typical and indicative of where Bush/Cheney's head is really at. We don't really care that millions of people are going to be denied their civil rights and constitutional government we are still going to prop up this dictator. Screw the people. Musharraf is just doing what we would like to do(and may still) if we thought we could get away with it.

Bad Foreign Policy Gone Haywire

The situation in Pakistan has turned to shit and the pigs are eating it. And, it's getting worse:

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Saturday, deploying troops and sacking a top judge in a bid to reassert his flagging authority against political rivals and Islamist militants.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan's internal security has deteriorated sharply in recent months with a wave of suicide attacks by al Qaeda-inspired militants, including one that killed 139 people.

State-run Pakistan Television said Musharraf had suspended the constitution and declared an emergency, ending weeks of speculation that the general who seized power in a 1999 coup might impose emergency rule or martial law.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a visit to Turkey, criticized the measures as "highly regrettable" and said she hoped Pakistan would have a free and fair election in January as promised.

Bush's idiot foreign policy has been to support Musharraf at all costs when every time you turn around the guy is basically telling Bush and Condi to take a long walk on a short pier. Do not overlook the fact that this guy has nuclear weapons now. Bush is focused all of his "foreign policy" on the non-nuclear Iran. I would have thought it be prudent to deal with Pakistan before turning on Iran (or Iraq for that matter). The U.S has showered this idiot with billions of dollars mostly in the form of military aid and he is using American money to overthrow the country. Great Job Bushy!