Bhutto Assassinated

I woke up this morning to the tragic news that Benazzir Bhutto had been assassinated, apparently shot at close range by Islamists as she campaigned in Rawalpindi, and less than two weeks before the elections scheduled for January 8th. I haven't heard yet, but the fact that an assassin succeeded in getting so close brings to mind the death of Indira Gandhi, when her own security detail turned on her; this isn't to equate a democrat like Bhutto to a disastrous president such as Gandhi, but merely to note the similarities at their death. [According to Powerline, there was a parallel attack on Nawaz Sharif, though it seems less determined and was obviously unsuccesfull.]

Musharraf has already disclaimed any knowledge or responsibility in the matter; the necessity of such a disclaimer is in itself a disquieting thing.

Michelle Malkin and Law Hawk both have lengthy, multi-update posts worth perusing with a bevy of links to follow. More of the same here, here, here, here, and here courtesy of Instapundit.

The last of those links (NRO's Corner) includes reactions from many of the presidential candidates who are rapidly turning this into a football. Even Huckabee has a statement out, though I imagine his morning briefing consisted of locating Pakistan on a map. CQ responds to Bill Richardson's hare-brained notion of forcing Musharraf out of power - the Captain lays out the several obvious layers of idiocy here. And though Thompson made a nice statement to the media, his team screwed up royally, sending out an email entitled "Great News This Morning;" while they probably didn't know about the death of Bhutto before hitting send, it's still a stupid mistake that they'll have to play a bit of D on today. Finally, Podhoretz notes that this morning's bloodshed will require primary voters to pay attention to international events and snap out of the domestic daydream that they've been in for the last several weeks and months (likely a product of our progress in Iraq, which Democrats dare not mention).

VDH, too, writes on Pakistan, a piece that might serve as an epitaph to the deceased, looking for a silver lining in her death. In closing, I think it's best to cite Bhutto herself: "I didn't choose this life, it chose me." Rest in peace.