Via Reuters:
President George W. Bush condemned the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Thursday, an act of violence that shredded U.S. hopes for democratic elections in the country that is a key ally in Bush’s war on terrorism.
“The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan’s democracy. Those who committed this crime must be brought to justice,” Bush said in a statement to reporters at his Texas ranch.
The president praised Bhutto’s courage in returning to Pakistan in October to participate in elections aimed at restoring a democratic government after eight years of military rule of President Pervez Musharraf.
UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Interesting commentary from John Podhoretz - The End of the Primary’s Holiday From History
The past three months have seen an odd turn in the presidential primary process in both parties — a turn away from the key issues confronting the United States and toward emotional and social vapor. The success of the surge in Iraq, coupled with the bizarre “we’re safe” reading of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, drained some of the passion from the anti-war fervor in the Democratic primary electorate and from the hawkish fervor of the Republican primary electorate. In their place came the Christian identity-politics rise of Mike Huckabee on the Republican side and the “we need a nice new politics” rise of Barack Obama on the Democratic side. Republicans squabbled about sanctuary cities and sanctuary mansions. Democrats squabbled about how many uninsured there would be left if their various health-care plans were imposed on the country.
The horrifying assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan this morning comes only one week before the Iowa caucuses and 12 days before New Hampshire. It is a sobering and frightening reminder of the challenges and threats and dangers posed to the United States by radical Islam, the nature of the struggle being waged against the effort to extend democratic freedoms in the Muslim world, and the awful possibility of a nuclear Pakistan overrun by Islamofascists. This is what the next president will be compelled by circumstance to spend a plurality of his or her time on. This is what really matters, not the cross Mike Huckabee lit up behind his head in his Christmas ad.
Very true words.
Tags: Benazir Bhutto, Democracy, Global War on Terrorism, Pervez Musharraf, President Bush, War on Terror
December 27th, 2007
Putin’s party is said to have won nearly 63% of the vote. Putin-allied parties are set to gain nearly 17% of the vote. When the ruling party gets that high a percentage and its primary opposition is actually shut out of Parlaiment all together, that in and of itself smells of fraud…when you add in all the voting irregularities reported, it becomes pretty clear that Putin has engineered himself an absolute majority which will now be able to adjust Russian law however necessary to allow Putin to remain in power, even if he officially leaves office at the end of his current terms as President.
Its really rather sad, and extraordinarily foolish of Putin to pull this - even supposing that Putin and his party are best equipped to govern Russia equitibly (and that is a bit of a stretch), Putin should realise that all he’s done is set up a dictatorial system which is bound to suppress Russia’s ability to fully harness its resources while at the same time opening up the myriad opportunities for corruption which has always been the bane of Russian progress. Watching from afar, I get the impression of a Great Russian patriot in Putin but like all too many such in Russia’s history, Putin lacks that sense of proportion which would allow him to share power with others - Putin will, I believe, be classed with Witte, Stolypin and Kruschev who set out to remake Russia, and made a hash of it.
All we can do is class Russia as a potential enemy in world affairs, and build our alliances with Poland, Georgia and other nations on Russia’s periphery who would like very much to stay out of Russia’s grasp.
Tags: Democracy, Putin, Russia
December 3rd, 2007
Though it remains to be seen whether or not Chavez will accept the verdict of his own people:
Voters in Venezuela defeated a contentious referendum that would have given President Hugo Chávez sweeping new powers, the Election Commission announced early Monday.
The results were a stunning defeat for a leader who was trying to extend already broad powers and lead his country in a radical new direction.
The commission said 50.7 percent voted against the referendum and 49.3 percent voted in favor. The results were all the more surprising given that Chávez and his supporters control nearly all of the levers of power.
“The result is quarrelsome,” Vice President Jorge Rodríguez said in comments broadcast on national television.
Opposition leaders were more upbeat. “Tonight, Venezuela has won,” said Manuel Rosales, governor of Zulia State and the opposition’s candidate in presidential elections last year.
Chavez is a rather thuggish man who is a legend in his own mind - hopefully, his supporters will tell him to just accept this and go on to the next thing; he could, on the other hand, conduct a coup against his own government and just start dictating and hoping that a civil war doesn’t break out.
At any rate, congratulations to the people of Venezuela for seeing through the Chavez scam, and prayers for peace in Venezuela.
Tags: Democracy, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela
December 3rd, 2007
