Bhutto, terrorism and the future

The world was stunned (but not surprised) by the death of Benazir Bhutto on Thursday as one more Islamic terrorist did what Islamic terrorists do routinely.

Bhutto died in a gun and bomb attack in Rawalpindi following a political rally at which she had spoken. The former prime minister had bravely, and somewhat recklessly, returned to the country which she led in the 1990s, and was certainly smart enough to know what she was getting herself into.

She was a Westernized woman in the nation which most thoroughly exemplifies radical Islam, and thus had a death sentence on her the minute she dared to enter the public square without a full head scarf, let alone had the audacity to run for prime minister again. She already had survived a suicide bomb attack that killed 120 people when she returned to Pakistan earlier this year, and this latest attack would not have been the last if it had failed.

Now, the question is what will happen to Pakistan, and the world, as a result of this assassination. It is not improper to consider the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria as an historic counterpoint to this modern murder. Ferdinand was killed in 1914 in Sarajevo, a Bosnian city dominated by Muslims in a country that had long been part of the Ottoman Empire. Indeed, the fractious nature of Eastern Europe in those days was not unlike the tribal mix of modern Pakistan and Afghanistan. The assassins of Ferdinand had a narrow political goal in mind, but set in motion the gears that led inevitably to the larger bloodbath of World War I. It is easy to imagine a scenario where Bhutto's death could likewise lead inevitably to chaos.

The United States mourns the loss of an ally, but it is pointless to talk now about Bhutto's contributions to democracy in Pakistan or the Islamic world, because as long as there are forces of terror willing to wear the executioner's hood and wield the ax of death indiscriminately, there can be no democracy or freedom.

Instead of attacking President Musharraf for his failures, we should recognize the terrible turmoil that will be unleashed on the world if he loses his grip on power. Pakistan is a nuclear power, and just beneath the surface, it is also a radical Islamic state. Should the radical Islamic element gain control of the nuclear bombs, it is only a matter of time before the powderkeg is lit and war commences.