Ron Paul is Right: US to Blame for Bhutto Assassination

Benazir Bhutto, despite how you feel about her politics, was a brave woman who did not deserve to die. The current atmosphere of hatred and distrust in Pakistan has been generated largely by the world's only superpower, the United States of America, who thinks that it can get its fingers in everyone else's pie any time it damn well pleases. The result? The assassination of a great woman, and a country in turmoil.

Update 12/30/2007: On-scene reporter: Pakistanis are partially blaming US for the death.

Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, the United States was again unnecessarily scrambling:

On Thursday, officials at the American Embassy in Islamabad reached out to members of the political party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, according to a senior administration official. The very fact that officials are even talking to backers of Sharif, a man those officials have long mistrusted and whose return to Pakistan they discouraged because they believe he has too many ties to Islamist parties, suggests how hard it will be to find a partner the United States fully trusts.

Why do we have to worry about trusting anybody there? Why do we even have to even be there? Why are we not just protecting America? Our foreign policy, particularly as it regards the Middle East, has been a travesty for the past 60 years. And Ron Paul is spot on when he points out that fact as it relates to the Bhutto murder.

The Associated Press reports that

...the assassination of former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto pushed terrorism to the forefront in voters' minds and highlighted the candidacies of presidential hopefuls with long records on national security.

Ron Paul correctly observed that American foreign policy has inflamed the divisions among the various parties in Pakistan (as well as throughout the Middle East) and indirectly caused the death of Bhutto.

Somebody tell me why we are supporting a military dictator (Pervez Musharraf)? Oh, that's right--because we helped them destabilize themselves and the world by acquiring nuclear weapons, and because we don't want al Qaeda to get their hands on them. Somebody also tell me why we continue to involve ourselves in the politics and self-determination of other countries?

The readers of Little Green Footballs betrayed their erudition and culture (not) by their "kind" words about Ron Paul's accurate observation of the negative, blowback effect of American foreign policy.

• "Where's a chimp with a spear when we need one?"
• "Leave our country, Congressman, at once."
• "Jiminy freakin jumped up Xmas this guy is an a%&hat's a$%hat."
• "Consummate dip^&#$."
• And my favorite: "F&%^ing Oblivious"

What is interesting is that the real "dipsticks" and "freaking oblivious"--the bulk of the commenters at Little Green Footballs--have not one iota of understanding as to America's history of foreign policy blunders.

In his recent book, A Foreign Policy of Freedom Ron Paul says:

The Muslim world is not fooled... The evidence is too overwhelming that we do not hesitate to support dictators and install puppet governments when it serves our interests. When democratic elections result in the elevation of a leader or party not to our liking, we do not hesitate for a minute to undermine that government.

The most tragic part of it all is that

[t]his hypocrisy is rarely recognized by the American people. (p. 344)

Especially those who frequent Little Green Footballs.

Pervez Musharraf became president in Pakistan through a military coup d'etat in 1999. The United States cavorts with him, despite his having not been elected and having suspended the Pakistani constitution twice.

Tell me how the United States isn't responsible for Bhutto's death?

Benazir Bhutto was twice popularly elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan. Now she is dead, and a military dictator, supported by United States foreign policy, is in office by force.



Tell me how the United States isn't responsible for Bhutto's death?

Update 12/30/2007 Trudi Rubin of The Philadelphia Enquirer was en route to interview Bhutto when she received a phone call informing her of the murder. Subsequently she talked to Pakistanis about the killing:

Pakistanis are angry at this murder, an anger that has already led to violence and could plunge the country into chaos. And just about every Pakistani with whom I spoke blamed her death not on al-Qaida, but on their own government — and the United States.

Anger at Musharraf was already running high, and Bhutto's murder could lead to a public explosion. That anger is also heaped on the United States because the Bush administration still supports Musharraf.

Her outspoken critique of the jihadis was a risk in a country where many Pakistanis think the United States is forcing them to fight its war on al-Qaida and the Taliban. Bhutto thought differently. She said it was Pakistan's war, too, and warned that the militants wanted to undermine the Pakistani state. For that, many Pakistanis labeled her an American agent.