Ridiculous Pakistani Government Assertions!!!

How stupid do they assume we all are?!!

From the Associated Press:
"Authorities on Thursday said Bhutto died from bullet wounds fired by a young man who then blew himself up, killing 20 other people. A surgeon who treated her said Friday she died from the impact of shrapnel on her skull.

But later Friday, Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said all three shots missed her as she greeted supporters through the sunroof of her vehicle, which was bulletproof and bombproof.

He also denied that shrapnel caused her death, saying Bhutto was killed when she tried to duck back into the vehicle, and the shock waves from the blast knocked her head into a lever attached to the sunroof, fracturing her skull.."


The clear implication by Pakistani government officials is that Benazir Bhutto is somehow the cause of her own death, that she wasn't murdered.

Imagine the following on an episode of CSI:

"I'm sorry the Department will have to release him (the suspect). Apparently, she (the victim) was killed when she ducked to avoid his bullets and a bomb went off. Her head smacked against the wall when the bomb went off. He obviously isn't the killer. There was no murder here, just a horrible accidental death..."

Um, yeah... ..about as 'accidental' as me dying if someone tossed a plugged in toaster into my bathwater!

'It wasn't the electricity that killed him, it was his heart stopping'


This IS the VERY SAME Pakistani government that repeatedly turned down specific security requests by Bhutto and her team!

First, she died of spinal cord damage resulting from gunshot wounds to her chest and head:
"Bhutto was rushed into surgery. A doctor on the surgical team said a bullet in the back of her neck damaged her spinal cord before exiting from the side of her head. Another bullet pierced the back of her shoulder and came out through her chest, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. She was given an open-heart massage, but the spinal cord damage was too great, he said."


Then the same Interior Ministry, now saying she died from her 'fall', blamed it on just a gunshot wound to her neck:
"Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto died of bullet wound in neck by a suicide bomber, Interior Ministry Spokesman said here Thursday. He said the suicide bomber fired at the PPP chairperson when she was waving to the crowd from the sun-roof of her vehicle minutes after addressing the public gathering at Liaquat Bagh. Later, the killer blew himself up at the spot killing over 20 people and injuring more than 50 persons."

Now, she basically 'accidentally' killed herself!?

To steal a line from 'Apocalypse Now!':

"Oh man, the shit piled up so fast in [Pakistan] you needed wings to stay above it."

Give us a F_in break!

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For an interesting side note on this, read Bhutto Sent Blitzer Security E-Mail"

The CIA Tapes Saga Gets More Interesting....

The Huffington Post is reporting that part of the reason for the destruction of the CIA tapes was the people Abu Zubaydah named at the top levels of the Pakistani and Saudi governments who were involved with the 9/11 plot. No surprise they've all died since then.

The Saddam Tapes - VP Cheney now argues Iraq Is not part of War on Terror

Just in case you've been living in a cave, I'll remind you that the CIA destroyed video tapes of the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Well, I have been told, by a government source I trust, that similar tapes of interrogations of Iraq War detainees have been in the hands of: the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA, the Army Office of the Inspector General (as a result of Abu Ghraib investigations), and most importantly, the Office of the Vice President and the White House. Journalist Seymour Hersh has, in the past, reported the existence of some of these tapes.

However, the big news is that the Office of the Vice President and the White House also had possession of some VERY INTERESTING tapes of the interrogation of Saddam Hussein. The mental image of Dick Cheney and Dubya eating popcorn, laughing, and playing with Saddam's pistol, while sitting in the White House theater watching the tapes, is something I can't get out of my mind. Is this what America is about?

Related to that and the other tapes from Iraq is the reported other-worldliness of internal government discussion (both in the Executive Branch and in the Senate Intelligence Committee) on whether or not these tapes are subject to the order of Judge Brinkema to produce videotapes of government interrogations of Al Qaeda terrorism suspects.

The Office of the Vice President has explicitly and specifically argued over and over again that Iraq is part of the War on Terror. Well, in more proof of VP Dick Cheney's residence in Bizarro World, comes news that his office has been arguing that any tapes from detainees captured in Iraq are not subject to Judge Brinkema's order...

..why?

Well, of course, because "the War in Iraq is not part of War on Terror operations against Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda Iraq is not proven to be a part of its namesake parent organization Al Qaeda." That's right friends, after nearly six years of telling us that operations against Iraq are part of the War on Terror, the VP is arguing internally that they legally are not part of that war.

Gerald Ford was right, Cheney has lost his mind with paranoia over terrorism. I'm willing to bet that Cheney personally approved Jose Rodriguez's decision to destroy the CIA videotapes after White House Counsel Harriet Miers apparently told the CIA not to destroy them. That would allow the White House to plausibly avoid direct responsibility and still ensure the disappearance of the tapes. At the very least, given Cheney's past refusal to cooperate with Judicial Branch orders, it would keep any inquiry from reaching a conclusion before Bush/Cheney Co. leave office.

Note to Judges Brinkema & Kennedy: you need to explicitly add videotapes of interrogations of terrorism suspects detained in Iraq and interrogated by the CIA, DIA, US Military, and/or US contractors (my reports are that Blackwater, and other contractors have participated in some of these interrogations - however Blackwater may have passed its responsibility for such operations to its new intelligence subsidiary Total Intelligence Solutions. The same sources say that part of the inspiration for setting up the new subsidiary was to legally shield Blackwater's principles and huge earnings from direct liability for such actions) to your order.

Welcome to the newspeak of 1984, where war is peace.