No security for Bhutto

Bhutto was denied proper security by the Pakistan government, according to Indian experts who provide similar security to ex-Prime Ministers and other VIPs.

The SPG official is of the firm opinion that the upgrades might have saved Ms Bhutto’s life. According to him, four cardinal principles of security for high-risk targets were violated in the course of Ms Bhutto’s campaign rally at the Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi [...]

Ms Bhutto’s vehicle should have been shielded from the crowd by the presence of other escort cars, which would have rendered it more difficult for an attacker to find a suitable line of fire. This was indeed one of the complaints listed in her e-mail [to American confidant Mark Siegel].

See full story by Praveen Swami in the Hindu newspaper. (SPG = Special Protection Group, a specialized protection force formed by India's interior ministry following a review after Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984. They are considered highly effective and conversant with the security requirements for VIPs in South Asia).

Some commentators in the West have written that Bhutto should have arranged for her own security. But these measures require permission from the authorities: permission which was not granted to Bhutto. And as an ex-Prime Minister, she was entitled to proper security; security that she repeatedly demanded but was never given.

In light of the clear danger to her, and the bombing of her homecoming rally in October, there is simply no excuse behind which the Musharraf government can hide. They killed the woman, as surely as pulling the trigger. And now they are trying to cover it up by intimidating the doctors who tended to her.