Once Upon a Time in Islamabad

By the time the Pakistani government is done revising history, Benazir Bhutto will have died from carpal tunnel syndrome from waving too hard at well-wishers after a campaign rally — her last.

Maybe by the time you finish this column, the military will have narrowed the cause of her death to a paper cut.

Not only does Pakistan's emperor have no clothes but the handling of Bhutto's murder gives every indication that his government has zero credibility. No wonder Pervez Musharraf and The Decider get along.

So tell me again why the Bush administration trusts Pakistan's government with so much American loot in the fight against terrorism? India's neighbor has the Big Kaboom, that's why. Pakistan is one of the world's seven nuclear wonders. It must be handled with care.

So when Musharraf declared martial law, curbed media freedoms and locked up lawyers shortly after Bhutto returned home from exile, Bush-Cheney Inc. sent a memo to cut that out.

It is commonly held that Pakistan has been Osama bin Laden's hideout since shortly after Sept. 11. U.S. officials have been trying to get Musharraf's cooperation in the western provinces where bin Laden hangs out. Musharraf took the money and has taken his sweet time. Thanks for nothing, pal.

Since Bhutto's slaying, bin Laden's host country has become the main stage for the Theater of the Absurd. Send in the clowns? Nope, they're running the military. Instead, send in a multilateral blue-ribbon panel to investigate the murder of this brave pro-democracy leader.

Let's just hope that such a commission can do a better job than our own Warren Commission did after JFK's assassination. Speaking of which, there's been film footage from Pakistan that some people have compared to Zapruder's film.

The videotape seen on CNN and other networks shows what appears to be a gunman in the crowd raising his arm in the final moments as Bhutto's car passed by. This would seem to confirm witness claims of at least three gunshots heard.

Witnesses also said a motorcyclist jumped on Bhutto's car and blew himself up. Throw in a grassy knoll and book depository, and you know how it all ends.

Except, Pakistani officials, while blaming al-Qaida for her death, insist "no foreign objects" were found in her body after a post-mortem exam. She wasn't gunned down, wasn't blown up and hadn't suffered a concussion from shrapnel. She merely slipped inside the car, bumped her head on the roof and then was pronounced clinically dead. Do Pakistani officials really expect people to believe this cock-and-bull — or should that be Jack and Jill — story? Apparently, they do. This insults not only people's intelligence but also Bhutto's legacy.

This remains a cold case. No one will accept that Bhutto, target of numerous assassination attempts, died by accident from bumping her head and crushing her skull. It is more upsetting that this scenario makes her responsible for her own death. If only she had been more careful getting back inside?

This is an outrage. While burning cars and tires in response ought not be condoned, you certainly can understand the rage and grief that has driven some Pakistanis to that point.

Bhutto was a victim of a conspiracy to kill her. She knew, long before the attempted murder in October, that this was how her story might end. But a democratic Pakistan was so important to her that she forged ahead, leaving behind a grieving family and angry and bereft fellow citizens.

Two things are certain. One: The fiction department within Pakistani military and intelligence circles has been working overtime since this remarkable and courageous woman was slain. And two: The way Pakistani officials have responded to her death is proof that they cannot be trusted, not with the truth and not in the anti-terror fight.

What little credibility the Pakistani government had with the rest of the world, including the Muslim world, died with Benazir Bhutto. So, too, did hopes for a democratic Pakistan.

Rhonda Chriss Lokeman (lokeman@kcstar.com) is a columnist for The Kansas City Star. To find out more about Rhonda Chriss Lokeman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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