"She Gave Her Life"

Whatever her shortcomings, she loved her country and gave her life for it.

- Ahmed Rashid

If you read nothing else about today's assassination of Benazir Bhutto, read this piece in the Washington Post by Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid.

The Dangerous Void Left Behind
By Ahmed Rashid
Friday, December 28, 2007; Page A21
LAHORE, Pakistan -- The assassination of Benazir Bhutto has left a huge political vacuum at the heart of this nuclear-armed state, which appears to be slipping into an abyss of violence and Islamic extremism. The question of what happens next is almost impossible to answer, especially at a moment when Bhutto herself seemed to be the only answer.

Pakistanis are in shock. Many are numb, and others are filled with unimaginable grief. Thousands have taken to the streets, burning vehicles and attacking police stations in an explosion of violence against the government.
(SNIP)
President Pervez Musharraf's own political future has never been less certain.

Bhutto's death leaves the largest possible vacuum at the core of Pakistan's shaky and blood-stained political system. Twice elected prime minister in the 1990s, twice dismissed on charges of corruption and incompetence by the military, Bhutto was a giant of a politician in a land of political pygmies and acolytes of the military.

Benazir Bhutto and her Pakistan People's Party were the closest anyone in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has ever gotten to espousing a secular, democratic political culture. In a country where political advances have been made recently only by the Taliban, the role Bhutto filled, trying to bring modernity to this nation of 160 million people, was immensely brave and absolutely necessary if Pakistan is to remain in the polity of nations. Whatever her shortcomings, she loved her country and gave her life for it.

Read the whole thing. Read it, and weep.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.