There's something rotten in the state of Pakistan

Shouldn't we all be concerned with what is going on in Pakistan if their government does not understand the difference between a bump on the head and a bullet hole ?

The Diana-isation of Benazir Bhutto begins

It is amazing how some one's death can suddenly see history and public opinion so radically change. A few days ago Benazir Bhutto may have been the west's best bet for a "friendly" government in Pakistan, but she was also a politician who was, along with her family and political party, widely seen as corrupt.

Both spells in charge in Pakistan saw her government's quickly lose popularity whilst corruption was rife, including large amount of money flowing the way of the Bhuttos. This appears now to be quickly forgotten.

Her friendships too also raised questions about her. She was, according to George Galloway, a close friend of his. For me and for many others this would put a massive question mark against her judgement.

So what had she promised this time that was different from before ? It appears from the news last night that her power base was still amongst the agrarian poor, but as the news journalists have made clear, this was in great part because of the patronage shown by the Bhutto's. In Britain we call patronage by a different name and when you use government funds to pay off large numbers of voters, it has a different name in most other parts of the world too.

And in twists likely to add to the Diana-isation of the cult of Benazir Bhutto, there are more and more conspiracy theories about how she actually died. Only Gavin Whenman has said, in jest I am sure, that it was Prince Philip and the British secret service, but no doubt Mohammed Al Fayed will be pleased that at least the driver for Benazir Bhutto was not a drunk in his employment.

So many have said that Bhutto was the best chance for democracy in Pakistan. This may well have been correct, but it is an indictment of the dearth of good democrats in Pakistan. I fear that in truth Bhutto was not the best chance for democracy but was in fact the best chance for the west and the USA. These things though do not mean the same thing.

Was this how Bhutto died ?

With the varying accounts now circulating about Benazir Bhutto's death, her camp saying she was shot, the Pakistan Government says it was her sunroof, I wonder how long it will be before we find out that THIS was the real reason.

What a bizarre way to die ?

After all the misinformation about Benazir hutto's death, the real cause of death has finally been announced.

The initial claim that she had been shot twice was wrong, as was the subsequent claim that she was struck by shrapnel from the bomb. Instead, it turns out that the shockwave from the bomb rocked her bomb proof car, but as she had been waving to the crowd through her sunroof, she was not strapped in to the car seats meaning she hit her head on the plastic handle of the sunroof, causing her to have a fractured skull.

One commentator on the radio yesterday suggested that Mrs Bhutto's vanity had got the better of her when waving from the sunroof whilst her aides were trying to get her in to her car as quickly as possible, and it appears that this vanity might well have caused what turns out to be a bizarre and almost unique cause of death.

When your security services work hand in hand with terrorists, what chance do Pakistanis have ?

For many years it has been known that the Pakistani Security Services (the ISS) have been working with Islamist groups, many often loosely allied to The Taliban, to fight a proxy war against India in Kashmir. The ISS too has had been the chief arms supplier and trainer of The Taliban up until six years ago, and according to some observers, this is still going on covertly.

So given the close relationship with these groups, how can the ISS provide security in Pakistan from Islamic terrorists ?

Obviously, as today's shock events highlight, they can't. The death of Benazir Bhutto is a tragedy for Pakistan, and a disaster for the whole region, as despite her faults, she was a democrat, and the terrorists wish to silence the democrats and see Pakistan become another extremist hot spot.

The problem thought for General Musharraf is that he too is impotent to do anything about the ISS and Islamists. He waited too long to take action against them and has allowed them to be seen by some as a legitimate means of opposing his military government. By opposing democracy for so long he invited people to take up arms.

So what future for Pakistan now ? A bleak one I fear, but unlike other failing states, Pakistan is a nuclear power, and this has got to be a concern for everyone.