Who Murdered Benazir Bhutto?

12-31-2012 • lewrockwell.com/Eric Margolis

By the time her season's greeting card and a handwritten note arrived in my office, my old friend Benazir Bhutto was already dead. The card mailed in Pakistan days before her murder, remains on my desk to this today, a touching last link from this remarkable lady. So, too, the names of the men who may have murdered her.

Five years ago last Thursday, Benazir Bhutto, twice prime minister of Pakistan, was murdered in Rawalpindi during a campaign rally. This charismatic lady was adored, even venerated by her supporters, who called her the savior of Pakistan. She was equally hated by her foes who accused her and husband, Asif Ali Zardari, of robbing Pakistan and acting as agents of the United States.

Shockingly, five years after her death, we still don't know who was behind it even though her family political fief, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), has held power ever since. We are not even sure what killed her: a suicide bomber next to the vehicle from which she was waving to crowds, a sniper, or a fractured skull caused by hitting her head on a roof latch as a result of the explosion.

UN investigators reported she had been denied proper security by the regime of then president, Pervez Musharraf whose grip on power was faltering. Washington's plan was to replace him with US ally Benazir.

The Bhuttos and I had been at scimitar's drawn since the 1980's, when I exposed a major corruption scandal involving her father-in-law. In my columns, published in North America and Pakistan, I hammered away at charges of embezzlement and kickbacks that dogged Benazir and her husband, Asif Zardari. I was repeatedly threatened by acid attacks by Bhutto supporters.