Bhutto: The Imperfect Martyr

I am not very convinced of the view of Benazir Bhutto as a martyr for democracy. Even if some of the charges against her were made up by Pakistani intelligence, as some have suggested, there is strong reason to believe she was involved with Oil-for-Food corruption, as the BBC has reported. Furthermore, some of these convictions have been by foreign courts, where the influence of the Pakistani military would probably be little or non-existant.

Andrew Sullivan has a relatively realistic look at the implications here. The Suburban Guerilla blog has some good commentary on the U.S.'s role and aims in bring Bhutto back to Pakistan.

Pakistan Moves One Inch Closer to Utter Chaos

Well, Benazir Bhutto, the corrupt politician who is currently Pakistan's best hope for democracy (God, or Allah, help the Pakistanis!), is now under house arrest by the Musharref government. Is any one in doubt that Pakistan is going to hell in a handbag. They've locked up the woman who represents the road to elections, and she's a damn rocky road at that.

For more info, see the post at the Reason blog by Nick Gillespie, including my comments under MPG.