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http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/Bhutto_Death_Poses_Dile/2007/12/27/60027.html
Bhutto Death Poses Dilemma for U.S.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration scrambled Thursday with the
implications of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's
assassination after investing significant diplomatic capital in promoting
reconciliation between her and President Pervez Musharraf.
While awaiting formal confirmation of Bhutto's death in an attack on an
election rally, U.S. officials - who had labored to promote stability in the
nuclear-armed country that has been an anti-terrorism ally - huddled to
assess the impact of Bhutto's passing just two weeks before legislative
elections in the turbulent nation in which her party was expected to do
well.
"Certainly, we condemn the attack on this rally," said deputy State
Department spokesman Tom Casey. "It demonstrates that there are still those
in Pakistan who want to subvert reconciliation and efforts to advance
democracy."
A U.S. official speaking on grounds of anonymity confirmed that Bhutto was
assassinated. No person or group has claimed responsibility for her death,
the official said.
In Crawford, Texas, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said that
vacationing President Bush "has been informed about the situation in
Pakistan. He was told about it this morning during his regular briefing." He
said that Bush planned to appear before reporters outside his ranch house
here later Thursday morning to discuss the situation.
Bhutto served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She
had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile Oct. 18. Her homecoming
parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, killing more than
140 people. On that occasion she narrowly escaped injury.
The United States had been at the forefront of foreign powers trying to
arrange reconciliation between Bhutto and Musharraf, who under heavy U.S.
pressure resigned as army chief and earlier this month lifted a state of
emergency, in the hope it would put Pakistan back on the road to democracy.
Bhutto's return to the country after years in exile and the ability of her
party to contest free and fair elections had been a cornerstone of Bush's
policy in Pakistan, where U.S. officials had watched Musharraf's growing
authoritarianism with increasing unease.
Those concerns were compounded by the rising threat from al-Qaida and
Taliban extremists, particularly in Pakistan's largely ungoverned tribal
areas bordering Afghanistan despite the fact that Washington had pumped
nearly $10 billion in aid into the country since Musharraf became an
indispensible counter-terrorism ally after Sept. 11, 2001.
Irritated by the situation, Congress last week imposed new restrictions on
U.S. assistance to Pakistan, including tying $50 million in military aid to
State Department assurances that the country is making "concerted efforts"
to prevent terrorists from operating inside its borders.
Under the law, which provides a total of $300 million in aid to Pakistan and
was signed by President Bush on Wednesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice also must guarantee Pakistan is implementing democratic reforms,
including releasing political prisoners and restoring an independent
judiciary.
The law also prevents any of the funds can be used for cash transfer
assistance to Pakistan, but that stipulation had already been adopted by the
administration.
Despite the congressional move, Richard Boucher, the assistant secretary of
state for South and Central Asian affairs who had been instrumental in
engineering the Bhutto-Musharraf reconciliation, said he had little doubt
that the administration would get the money.
Bhutto Death Poses Dilemma for U.S.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration scrambled Thursday with the
implications of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's
assassination after investing significant diplomatic capital in promoting
reconciliation between her and President Pervez Musharraf.
While awaiting formal confirmation of Bhutto's death in an attack on an
election rally, U.S. officials - who had labored to promote stability in the
nuclear-armed country that has been an anti-terrorism ally - huddled to
assess the impact of Bhutto's passing just two weeks before legislative
elections in the turbulent nation in which her party was expected to do
well.
"Certainly, we condemn the attack on this rally," said deputy State
Department spokesman Tom Casey. "It demonstrates that there are still those
in Pakistan who want to subvert reconciliation and efforts to advance
democracy."
A U.S. official speaking on grounds of anonymity confirmed that Bhutto was
assassinated. No person or group has claimed responsibility for her death,
the official said.
In Crawford, Texas, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said that
vacationing President Bush "has been informed about the situation in
Pakistan. He was told about it this morning during his regular briefing." He
said that Bush planned to appear before reporters outside his ranch house
here later Thursday morning to discuss the situation.
Bhutto served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She
had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile Oct. 18. Her homecoming
parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, killing more than
140 people. On that occasion she narrowly escaped injury.
The United States had been at the forefront of foreign powers trying to
arrange reconciliation between Bhutto and Musharraf, who under heavy U.S.
pressure resigned as army chief and earlier this month lifted a state of
emergency, in the hope it would put Pakistan back on the road to democracy.
Bhutto's return to the country after years in exile and the ability of her
party to contest free and fair elections had been a cornerstone of Bush's
policy in Pakistan, where U.S. officials had watched Musharraf's growing
authoritarianism with increasing unease.
Those concerns were compounded by the rising threat from al-Qaida and
Taliban extremists, particularly in Pakistan's largely ungoverned tribal
areas bordering Afghanistan despite the fact that Washington had pumped
nearly $10 billion in aid into the country since Musharraf became an
indispensible counter-terrorism ally after Sept. 11, 2001.
Irritated by the situation, Congress last week imposed new restrictions on
U.S. assistance to Pakistan, including tying $50 million in military aid to
State Department assurances that the country is making "concerted efforts"
to prevent terrorists from operating inside its borders.
Under the law, which provides a total of $300 million in aid to Pakistan and
was signed by President Bush on Wednesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice also must guarantee Pakistan is implementing democratic reforms,
including releasing political prisoners and restoring an independent
judiciary.
The law also prevents any of the funds can be used for cash transfer
assistance to Pakistan, but that stipulation had already been adopted by the
administration.
Despite the congressional move, Richard Boucher, the assistant secretary of
state for South and Central Asian affairs who had been instrumental in
engineering the Bhutto-Musharraf reconciliation, said he had little doubt
that the administration would get the money.
