Posted on 12/31/2007 5:01:45 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Intel Community: 'Military killed Bhutto'
By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times)
Published: December 31, 2007
Lower and middle level officers of the Pakistani army and the Pakistani air force were involved in the killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, according to various intelligence sources, including members of India's counter-intelligence service.
Well-informed sources have told the Middle East Times that these rogue elements of the Pakistani military support the jihadis and share their extremist views of an ultra-conservative form of Islam.
One former CIA official told a Middle East Times source that, "It's worrying when half of your lower or mid-level Pak intelligence analysts have bin Laden screen-savers on their computers."
The conclusion of a number of U.S. analysts is that al-Qaida and other jihadis have successfully penetrated the armed forces and security services in Pakistan. If these findings are substantiated it could be a matter of grave concern, given the fact that Pakistan is in possession of nuclear weapons.
Should the radical elements of Pakistan's military ever succeed in overthrowing the current regime and taking over the country, it would radically alter the geo-political map of the region -- and not for the better, either. A nuclear-armed Pakistan run by pro-bin Laden sympathizers would likely initiate a climate of high tension not only with neighboring India, but could extend towards the already volatile Middle East.
Backing up their theory that pro-extremists found sympathy and support among influential people in the Pakistani security forces, the sources cited the example of Rashi Rauf, the prime suspect in a recent plot to blow up 10 U.S. passenger airplanes in the United Kingdom last year. Rauf escaped last week while being taken from court in Rawalpindi. The prime suspects are the security personnel, who some believe, have facilitated Rauf's escape, the sources said.
Of the seven or eight attempts to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf, two took place in December 2003 when rockets were fired at his vehicle during a visit to Rawalpindi, the same city where Bhutto was killed on Thursday.
Then there was the attempt to fire on his plane with an anti-aircraft gun in early 2007. There were also two suicide attacks on the Army's General HQ and two attacks outside the offices of the ISI, after Pakistani security forces, on Musharraf's orders, assaulted the Red Mosque, the Lal Masjid, in Islamabad last July when Islamists retrenched inside the mosque with scores of hostages.
Following the two attacks on Musharraf, junior army and air force officers were arrested. The ensuing investigation discovered that they had ties with Jaish-e-Mohammad, an Islamist group. In the rocket attack, the son of an army brigadier general was arrested.
The source says, however, that only lower-ranking army officials were arrested and court-martialed. The investigations are dead in the water.
Bhutto's main fear, according to a well-placed source, was that Brig. Gen. (rtd) Ijaz Shah of the Pakistani IB would prove a grave threat to her. She was worried about security but did not make it a big issue until Dec. 26 when she complained that the electronic jammers used to neutralize IED's were faulty.
But one U.S. analyst familiar with the situation told the Middle East Times that Mrs. Bhutto was warned of security issues. "She was warned of the dangers yet she continued to behave in a way in which the Secret Service in the U.S. would never accept," said Thomas Houlahan, director of military assessment with the Center for Security and Science in Washington, D.C.
"She insisted on having her own people run her protection," said Houlahan, who added, "but nothing would protect her when she decided to stand through the sun roof of her car.
"That was extremely reckless," said Houlahan. "I don't see what could have been done."
Opposition to Benazir Bhutto was to be found not only in the country's army and air force from bin Laden sympathizers, but also from old Zia ul-Haq loyalists who did not want the daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in a position of power.
"They especially loathed the idea that Bhutto had pledged the United States to allow U.S. intelligence to interrogate rogue atomic scientist A.Q. Khan and allow U.S. forces to hunt for bin Laden on Pakistani soil," said the source. "She did not have much of a chance."
The general view among many in the intelligence community is that Musharraf himself is a marked man and not likely to stay in power too long. The question is this: If the Islamists ever succeed in removing Musharraf, with Bhutto now gone, who would be likely to govern Pakistan and gain control of its nuclear arsenal?
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Comments may be sent to Claude@metimes.com
I think this describes what happened, and I am not making light of her death but where was her common sense. It is not as though she had NO clue there were murderous killers plotting and planning to kill her.
This is generally well known-that the military has extreme radicals in it. Musharraf dances on the plank. That explains why he has never went after the wack jobs to the west and cleaned out the vipers nest.
Something that has been explained at length by many, yet not understood but by a few.
That dude who is often on FXNEWS..I couldnt begin to spell his name...Monsur or something like that, told Fox that he was sure that it was a hit job and that She walked right into the whole thing knowing full well what was going to happen.
If the “military” did it, why was there a “suicide bomber”? I don’t know too many people willing to die for a corrupt military regime. The Islamists find it difficult to recruit such people, much less the military.........
Are you referring to the same military which formed the Taliban & still has links & support to terrorists in India???Such organisations have no dearth of people willing to blow themselves up.
If it were indeed the military’s job(no definite way to find out)-they have plenty of outsourcing options.
India?
Are you referring to Mansur Ijaz???It’s been stated for atleast 5-6 years that the lower level officer corp of the Pakistani army has gotten increasingly radicalised,while the senior ones(recruited in the 70s-80s) are still considered level headed,who use Islamists for their political ends.
Precisely so that people could ask these questions. The extremists are not that savvy people. Most of them are straight-meat and potato type suicidal killers. They wouldnt have tried to shoot her and bomb their way to heaven. Instead to ensure that they dont fail, they would have had 2-3 suicide bombers setting themselves off around the cavalcade. If they were indeed as sophisticated as this, they would have got Musharraf a long time ago.
Then it wasn’t the “military”, per se, but factions within the military, supportive of the Islamists, equivalent to spies and saboteurs...........
(The Religion of Peace By ANY Means)
The problem is that till Sept.11,the military as a whole-including the senior officer corp endorsed using such elements.How far have they come from that??????If it indeed were factions of the Paki military,then it’s a more dangerous thing given that the military itself would be seen to be fragmenting-
Once that happens,then the s**t would truly be hitting the fan.
Then why is Musharraf still breathing? The Islamist pretenders within his officer corps must have had a myriad of chances to do him in these past 8 years. They have tried a few times and failed. There must be more loyalists than Islamists in ther midst.......
Exactly. It was well known where she would be, and the weapons used are available to the terrorists. Why would they need the military's help.
Most probably so.Or maybe,there really is not any real distinction between the Islamists & the loyalists afterall..The Pakistani army’s dynamics is not exactly any more transparent than Kim Jong Il’s government.
Bottom line... a great deal of what is going on now in both Eastern Afghanistan and Western Pakistan can be attributed to blood feuds between tribes in the region whose loyalties transcend those to any “state”. The solution... Defeat the Pashtun... Break their will and make them subservient to the states. Otherwise they will continue to fight.
This is the cause for the crisis and will remain as such regardless of who is in power.
The ISI can hardly be called the equivalent of the CIA-it’s tied to the Army & draws members from all 3 Pakistani defense services(so it’s name is the Inter-SERVICES Intelligence).All it’s senior officers are Army men.There is simply no separate cadre for the ISI i.e. you cannot talk of the ISI in isolation to the army.
A.Q Khan was the highest ranking civilian in a military run show-the N programme.He wouldn’t have been able to lift his finger if the military didn’t allow him to.
Thats the guy..
Maybe FINAL control. I think India would launch at the first sign that the Paki's nukes were about to be taken over....
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