Did the US Do Enough for Bhutto?

New coalition will defy US, open negotiations

(NEWSER) - Pakistan's new coalition government says it will negotiate with the militants thought to be behind a wave of recent suicide bombings, the New York Times reports. The change in strategy will alarm US officials, who have recently stepped up strikes on suspected al-Qaeda strongholds using pilotless Predator drones. Pakistanis blame American strikes for the surge in bombings—17 since the beginning of 2008. More»

Election victors continue to work for coalition government

(NEWSER) - The victors in the Pakistan elections favor negotiations with al-Qaeda and the Taliban over military confrontation, reports the New York Times. “We will have a dialogue with those who are up in the mountains,” said Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. “We want to take all those along who are working against Pakistan.” More»

Seeks to thwart al-Qaeda muscle; but Pakistan won't stand for it

(NEWSER) - Bush administration officials are weighing plans for the CIA and US military to conduct new, more aggressive covert operations in Pakistan, the New York Times reports. The proposal is a response to growing al-Qaeda and Taliban efforts to destabilize Pakistan, cast in sharp focus by the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Pakistan officials, however, say they will not allow such operations. More»

Political deaths many; 'truth never comes out'

(NEWSER) - Moments after Benazir Bhutto was killed—whether by gun, bomb, or hitting her head on a sunroof—came another disturbing image. Workers hosed blood from the streets, washing away potential evidence, the Washington Post reports—and ensuring yet another whodunit to Pakistan's long list of unsolved political murders. "I thought, 'There goes the answer to all of the Pakistan people's questions,' said a lawyer who once worked for Bhutto. More»

(NEWSER) - President Bush today called for action against the killers of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. “The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan’s democracy,” Bush said at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. The US had strenuously promoted Bhutto's return to Pakistan in a potential power-sharing arrangement with president Pervez Musharraf. More»