Bhutto Assassinated

Pakistan Prime Minister elect Benazir Bhutto was assassinated yesterday. Her father was the first democratically elected leader in Pakistan, and she was the first and only female elected to office there. She spend much of both her terms in exile. Her death occurred in the face of imminent elections to occur only 3 weeks later. Her tragic death risks leaving the region destabilized, or at least further away from moving to a true democracy for sometime.

One interesting observation was the reaction by US leaders to this tragedy. Cable news carried no live statements from George W. Bush or Hillary Clinton. Barrack Obama and Chris Dodd however both quickly came on the air and spoke to how the situation should be handled in a wise way. Mitt Romney also appeared on the air, but was challenged when asked to speak to policy changes he would make in response to this event.

Senator Clinton and Edwards commented the next day. Both called for similar focus points (possible POTUS / VP ticket combination?) -- independent international investigators to determine the exact cause of death and those responsible. Despite the delay of the response, both of these candidates gave good, wise responses. Hillary Clinton was especially scathing towards the Bush administration's strategy in the region.