By CARLOTTA GALL and SALMAN MASOOD
Published: October 18, 2007

KARACHI, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 19 — Two explosions ripped through this city late Thursday night, killing more than 100 people, after Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani opposition leader and twice prime minister, returned from exile to her home city.

Her celebratory welcome, with hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets and dancing atop vehicles, turned chaotic when the blasts went off near a truck carrying the former prime minister, who was returning after eight years in exile.

The Pakistani police and members of her party said Ms. Bhutto was not injured by the blasts, news agencies reported.

The reported death toll continued to rise early Friday morning, with news agencies saying at least 115 were killed. Officials at six Karachi hospitals told The Associated Press that up to 126 people were dead and more than 200 were wounded.

An A.P. photographer at the scene of the explosions said he saw 50 to 60 dead or badly wounded people. He said some of the bodies were ripped apart.

After an initial small explosion, a huge blast came just feet from the front of the truck carrying Ms. Bhutto during a procession through Karachi. The blast shattered windows in her vehicle, The A.P. said.

As I'm not yet allowed to post links, just go to NY Times' website to read the full article.

IMHO this is just another piece in the puzzle that is coming together quickly as we speak. You have the Turkish issue, Iran, Russia, and China.. and now this. We're turning a blind eye on the Pakistani, Indian, Chinese, and Saudi problems. This is what will bite our asses next, folks.

What does everyone here think will happen in the coming weeks as a result of what is happening?

Is democracy simply on the march and all the deaths that are occurring as we see are as a result of people who do not want democracy? Or.. is it a private agenda of an elite few?

My first time on these forums, but I have frequented many before.. however I see this one is popular so I decided to register. Lets see if we can get a discussion going.

:shrug:

It's a terrorist attack against someone in favor of a secular Pakistan. I disagree that we are turning a blind eye to those nations. Bush just got finished courting India on the nuclear issue to keep India from negotiating for a pipeline from Iran. Musharef isn't that popular with the fundamentalists, either. We can't end our relationship with China even if we wanted to, so taking a hard line with them is unrealistic. Pretty much the same with the Saudis.

If I hear the phrase "Democracy on the march" again, I'm going to :puke:

We certainly are avoiding these nations. Pakistan is a military dictatorship, yet many in the US don't seem to realize this. Hes just as bad as the Taliban regardless of how open their terror acts are. Sure we can use him against Al Qaeda but we used the latter against the USSR.. irony eh?

It's understandable of why the attack occurred.. but who did it? The media likes to blame it on the "terrorists," but the Pakistani government is just as capable of doing this and has much reason to do so. It just seems to me that the blood is boiling and the tipping point is coming quick IMHO.

Oh and Turkey is about to freaking invade Northern Iraq. Israel supposedly bombed a "nuclear project" in Syria. The Saudi's are just a pain in the ass and always have been.

He's a dictator, but he's secular. He's the only thing holding back Pakistan from theocracy. I suppose Musharef could have done it. What are we supposed to do? In general, our actions so far have made the region less stable.

Saddam was a secular militant dictator. We got rid of him, and look what happened...

That was bad strategy.

What do we do?

We leave Iraq and focus our resources on Afghanistan and Pakistan. I personally don't care what happens to Iraq so I won't get into a debate about that. But we should literally enforce our own justice upon the terrorists hiding out in Pakistan and Afghanistan and if the Pakistani government even for 5 minutes stutters then I'd question the Paki's as well. It's pathetic to say the least @ what is going on over in Pakistan. I don't see the Paki's doing much in regards to the hideouts and things of that nature. I only see covert action taking place but that is BS because we're all focused on Iraq. I don't trust any of these guys personally.. and thats exactly what I would do if I were in charge. But I'm not.. and I don't think anything positive will occur under this lousy administration. But before you may want to get into politics - I'm neither left nor right.

I doubt the Paki's are doing all they can to stop the Taliban, and any terrorist organization out there. Megalomania proves my point.

I doubt anything practical can be accomplished by rampaging through Pakistan. Our army is stretched as it is, and will take time to recover from Iraq before anything is possible. Pakistan has troops that are more familiar with the area, but they don't dare invade in full force. The area is extremely rugged, and they don't have any local support. An invasion could ruin any chance of a Democratic Pakistan.

Update: Last Count I heard is now 124 Dead.

Who cares!

Of course if Israel killed that many Palestinians or ½ that Many, or ¼ that Many, we're talking "Massacre" here.. "Genocide".
The UN goes into emergency session, sets an investigation and "War Crimes" charges are thrown around immediately.
And this even gets an name that will live in Infamy against the Jewish State; a hallmark in Palestinian History.

Like "Jenin" where 52 Palestinians were killed (30 Armed) and 26 Israelis.
Yet it's a Palestinian and anti-Israel/semite Legend.

http://honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Bad_News_From_the_Netherlands.asp

Bhutto's husband claims it was Musharraf's own secret service that was behind the bombings.

Well I for one, really don't give a shit. I mean, if someone farts in Pakistan, someone else is killed.

Well, there was little real security around the motorcade, so it could have been anyone.

Well I for one, really don't give a shit. I mean, if someone farts in Pakistan, someone else is killed.

I agree. Frankly, I'm getting so accustomed to people killing other people that it's become little more than ho-hum. More people are killed on the highways in accidents, more people were murdered yesterday in the USA, some 10,000 people in Africa starved to death yesterday, .......

So what's the big deal about a hundred or so Pakis?

It's all just one more normal day on the great planet Earth.

Baron Max

Well, there was little real security around the motorcade, so it could have been anyone.

If they'd contracted with Blackwater for the security, that attack wouldn't have happened! :D

Baron Max