Angry in the Great White North

The news sites are covering the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan today.  The rumour mill is grinding out theories about who was responsible, with many Western observers looking to either President Pervez Musharraf as having the most to gain, or to the Taliban or Al Qaeda as having the motivation combined with the audacity.

But what do Pakistanis think?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a tendency to lay all their problems, and more importantly, the responsibility for their troubles, at the feet of the West, and in particular, of the United States.

At PakistaniDefence.com, there is a forum thread inviting speculation on who was responsible for Benazir Bhutto's murder.

Here are the leaders in reverse order:

Next in line for PPP leadership: 0 votes
Someone from the Bhutto family: 0 votes
MQM: 0 votes
PML (N): 0 votes
PML (Q): 2 votes
PPP's own leadership: 3 votes
Amy: 4 votes
Musharraf: 5 votes
Benazir herself: 6 votes
Other: 7 votes
Mullahs: 9 votes
Americans: 10 votes

Global warming didn't make the list.  Curious that.

More people are ready to blame Benazir Bhutto for her own death than would blame Musharraf.  Based on the comments on the thread, these people hold Bhutto responsible based on the "she was asking for it" school of jurisprudence.

Let's hope that the people running the country consist of a more intelligent and thoughtful group of Pakistanis.

Somehow, though, I think we'll be disappointed.  Now we wait as a nuclear armed nation (best estimate is about 100 working warheads) on the front line in the War on Terror edges closer to civil war and anarchy.