The Assassination of Benazir Bhutto

Asia Society expresses its profound regret at the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto. We express solidarity with the people of Pakistan at this moment of loss.

A conversation with Richard Holbrooke

NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2007 - Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's former prime minister and leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former US ambassador to the United Nations and Chairman of the Asia Society, spoke via telephone to Nermeen Shaikh at the Asia Society. The views expressed here are Ambassador Holbrooke's and do not necessarily reflect those of Asia Society or its funders.

Richard Holbrooke: The assassination of Benazir Bhutto is an enormous tragedy not only for Pakistan but for the world. She took enormous risks returning to Pakistan in pursuit of democracy. She knew how dangerous it was but, when I talked to her shortly before she returned to Pakistan, she said that she felt committed to trying to set her country on the path to democracy. What happens now will have a decisive effect on events in the vast region that stretches from India west to the Mediterranean. The first task of the Musharraf government must be to determine the facts in this tragic event.

Asia Society: Would you care to speculate at all about who might be responsible for this?

RH: I have no idea who was responsible but it is essential that an investigation be done immediately and that the facts in this matter be determined. In situations like this -- think of the controversy that still surrounds the assassination of President Kennedy -- there will always be suspicions. In this particular event, those suspicions will have enormous political implications. There will be people who suspect the involvement of elements of the Pakistani security forces. These suspicions, which started the moment the news became public, must be examined and the facts must be determined. There is no doubt that this will make the situation in Pakistan even more volatile and even more tense.

AS: What do you think the implications of this will be for the elections that were scheduled for January 8?

RH:I have no idea what will happen now. The elections seemed likely to be discredited before this happened. Now there is obviously a question as to whether they will be held at all. In these circumstances, it is hard to imagine elections that will be widely accepted as free and fair.

AS:Lastly, how do you think the US government should respond to this turn of events?

There is very little that the United States government can do right now; their failure to push harder for democracy in recent months left the impression that the administration was going to give President Musharraf a blank cheque and support him regardless of the circumstances. It is now too late to fix that impression. It is fine to call for democracy in Pakistan, but when the leading voice for democracy has been killed, such calls sound very hollow.

Meanwhile, success in Afghanistan will not be possible if the situation along the Pakistani side of the Afghan border is not dealt with. For the United States today, Pakistan is approaching the status of a problem without a solution.

Asia Society's "Crisis in Pakistan" page