Benazir Bhutto’s death or murder: Gunman, suicide bomber, or “she fell on her head”

Marc Chagall. The Falling Angel (La chute de l’angle). 1923-33-47. Oil on canvas. 148 x 189 cm. Private collection. Right-clicked from www.abcgallery.com

    The  Pakistan Musharraf-led  government, which had been supported by the U.S. government (but with demand to liberalize) issued a statement  before dawn Manila time, as reported by CNN,  that Benazir Bhutto was killed when she hit her head on the lever of the sun roof of the vehicle she was riding on.       

      The spokesperson, the Minister of the Interior, did not offer any basis for the conclusion, except to say that there were no foreign objects found inside the body of Benazir Bhutto. It means  that there were no bullets or bullet fragments or shrapnel  found in her body according to the Minister of the Interior. He didn’t say however whether or not there were entry wounds and exit wounds . No foreign objects does not mean no gunshot wounds.  That would have been a good question to ask, and for which he would have been incompetent to answer.              

      What could have been an acceptable basis for the conclusion would have been the following: any forensic evidence found on the vehicle which  might support such a conclusion;  or  any medical report from the physicians who attended to the victim (with waiver of confidentiality from the family). Absent any such offer of basis for the conclusion, the statement is  propaganda. (But for what? To change the characterization of the incident from murder to homicide of course, silly.  Or to lessen her martyrdom? At this point, would anything the Musharraf  government say diminish the rage on the streets of Karachi, Islamabad, and other cities?)          

      (Update: an hour ago, the Associated Press reported that according to the  Musharraf government,  quote”Bhutto was not killed by gunshots or shrapnel as originally claimed. Instead, it said her skull was shattered by the force of a suicide bomb blast that slammed her against a lever in her car’s sunroof.” closed-quote.)   The amended version of the statement “clarifies” that it was the force of the suicide bomb blast that shattered her skull and which caused her to  hit her head on the lever of the sunroof.This is consistent with their government’s  Al Qaeda-suicide-bombing theory.    

     I hope the statements are being given in English and nothing is being lost in the translation.  “her skull was shattered by the force of the bomb blast” is different from: the force of the bomb blast slammed her against the lever of the sunroof which shattered her skull, etc.. If her skull was shattered by the force of the bomb blast, what was the effect on the skulls of all her closed-in security and all those standing close to her? It did not have that effect on those standing close to her but it killed 23 others  so maybe the direction of the bomb blast was  both scattered  and precise, maybe there’s such a thing, maybe, perhaps, possibly,  i guess, that was some job wasn’t it, can you demonstrate it.    

         Meanwhile, the available evidence are in the form of footage and testimonies. CNN showed a full view footage of the vehicle then zoomed in at the rear portion of the car and froze it frame by frame: the stills showed a man who was able to wade through the security and climb up the back of the vehicle and point a handgun at Benazir Bhutto and apparently fire it.              

       It would probably be  useful to piece all the available footage  to reconstruct the sequence of events. Apparently, based on the various  testimonies and statements and footage, the following can be established: there was a gunman at the rear of the vehicle who was able to shoot in her direction; then there was a bomb detonated a few meters from her vehicle killing the suicide bomber and 23 persons; she either ducked or fell or  the bomb blast  shattered her skull and slammed her against the sun roof,  bullets  or fragments may or may not have hit her, she may or may not have hit her head on the lever of the sun roof; her skull may have been shattered by either the bomb blast or bullets. The medico-legal report would show the entry wounds and exit wounds if any or the nature of the fractures; which could tell us the approximate distance of the shooter or the bomber (if from shrapnel or “force of the blast”), if any; and the approximate direction, again if any.            

        At least, policemen in the NCR (our NCR) offer evidence in the form of tortured confessions, i.e., they pick up “suspects” or individuals in their file or  rouges’ gallery, then beat them up and electrocute them to sign confessions. But at least, our Mamang Pulis makes an eyfort (effort) to produce  evidence.