Bhutto murdered, hope dimmed

The murder today of Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistan Prime Minister and candidate in the upcoming election, is deeply saddening. She was brave, intelligent, charismatic, and patriotic. We do not yet know who was responsible. It seems unlikely that the dictator Musharraf is directly responsible because although she threatened his rule, they had apparently made an arrangement. More likely, the militant Islamic extremists are guilty. These people have moved freely between Afghanistan and Pakistan, due to the US failure to eliminate the Taliban in Afghanistan and despite American pressure to fight them in Pakistan. This is another consequence, heartbreakingly bitter, of the failure of the US to decisively defeat Osama bin Laden and his ilk. These times have suddenly turned even more dangerous.