Pakistan's Fractured Polity: Who Killed Bhutto?

The death of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is being mourned by millions of Pakistanis. She had a profound public base despite staying out of her country for nearly a decade and dogged by corruption and nepotism charges.

Her death, however, should not come as a surprise at all. For the past three decades, Pakistan has been turned into a "Jihad factory' under the guidance of the US and other Western powers. After 9/11 when Pakistan launched a war on its own people in the name of "War on terror', it was not uncanny to predict that the Jihadis who were nourished previously will turn against their old allies -- the politicians and the military and the innocent people of Pakistan will get caught and entangled as a collateral.

Martyr of Democracy?

Is Benazir Bhutto a martyr for democracy in Pakistan? Many of the Pakistani political parties are calling it a set-back for democracy which could be seriously contested, but her death is certainly a blow to the electoral exercise. Strangely, exiled leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement MQM, Altaf Hussain called her "martyr of democracy'. Altaf Hussain's MQM is blamed for hundreds of terrorist actions that led to the deaths of thousands of people in Karachi. The world's "greatest democrat' George Bush has claimed that Benazir laid down her life for the ideals of democracy. Counterpunch