Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

The AFP is reporting that former Pakastani Prime Minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated during a campaign stop in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She was the leading voice against President Pervez Musharaf and a leading voice for democracy and rule of law in Pakistan. The assassination comes less than two weeks before the Jan. 8 Parliamentary elections.

She spent the last 8 years in exile, only returning to her home country for this election. This was the second attempt on her life. Back in October, the first attempt left 139 people dead. At the moment, radical Islam is suspected to be the perpetrator.

She had recieved death threats from Al-Qaeda and other Islamic militant groups since returning to Pakistan. She had previously accused Musharaf's intelligence services of trying to assassinate her. This is a different kind of political killing intended to destabilize the election rather than just eliminate an opponent. 

Musharaf has called it a "tragic national incident" and has urged for calm, lest the terrorists win. Assuming Musharaf had nothing to do with it, then this puts his implementation of a state of emergency in early Novemeber into perspective. The threats from radical Islam in that country are real, and maybe his actions are warranted. AFP reports that there have been 40 suicide attacks this year that have left 770 people dead.