Pakistan’s Bhutto Assassinated

This seems bad for Pakistan:

An attack on a political rally killed the Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto near the capital, Islamabad, Thursday. Witnesses said Ms. Bhutto was fired upon at close range before the blast, and an official from her party said Ms. Bhutto was further injured by the explosion, which was apparently caused by a suicide attacker.

Ms. Bhutto was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Rawalpindi at 6:16 p.m. after the doctors had tried to resuscitate her for thirty-five minutes. She had shrapnel injuries, the doctors said. At least a dozen more people were killed in the attack.

I don't have a huge amount to say about this tragedy, except that I am sure it will be spun as good for Republicans in some way. The tiger attack at the zoo was also good for Republicans, I imagine.

Oh wait, I do have one thing to say about this. I guess this surge didn't work:

The US is seeking to beef up Pakistan's counter-insurgency efforts in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan by expanding an American special forces team in the country to train the Frontier Corps and recruiting local militias to take on the insurgents.

The aim is to replicate the Iraq model, in which the Americans recruited, financed and armed local militias against insurgents, firstly in Anbar province and then elsewhere in the country.

Or maybe it did work, since we don't really seem to care if Pakistan is democratic, as long as it is stable. Oh wait-stable countries don't see opposition leaders assassinated...