I'm appalled (not surprised, unfortunately, but appalled) that nearly all the Presidential candidates seem to think that Bhutto's assassination is something which should be exploited for political gain.
One of Obama's advisors used it to question Hillary Clinton's judgment.
McCain used it to tout his foreign policy experience.
Paul Krugman says Enough!
This isn’t about you; in fact, as far as I can tell, it isn’t about America. It’s about the fact that Pakistan is a very messed-up place. This has very bad consequences for us, but it’s hard to see what, if anything, it says about US policy.
This is a tragedy for Pakistan and an even worse tragedy for the family:
"a mother has lost her third child and a sister her last sibling. A husband is flying to the province of Sindh to bury his wife, and three children have lost their mother."
It doesn't help the situation for politicians to be leaping around saying "I'm the one America needs in these terrible times!" It's grotesque.
Posted by Linkmeister at December 27, 2007 02:40 PM | TrackBackYes, I remember hearing an interview with some mid-level pundocrat in the Dubya administration when Musharraf declared martial law and threw the entire Pakistani supreme court in jail - and this remarkably honest (for a politician!) character said, "Well, there really isn't a whole lot we can do about this." You're quite right, we don't have a dog in this fight; we just think we do. On the other hand, these ARE campaigning politicians, so it's probably just reflex.
As for what if anything this mess says about U.S. policy, I don't know: Bhutto has been in exile for years, it was Nawaz Sharif (who I bet is lying VERY low right now) whom Musharraf overthrew in his initial coup, and that if I recall correctly was before 9/11/2001, when we weren't paying any attention to Pakistan because it doesn't have any oil. I think you're probably right that it doesn't say anything about our policy; but the dude in Washington is distressingly right too, that there really isn't anything much we can do...
Posted by: hedera at December 27, 2007 07:02 PM