CNN keeps showing, on a continuous feed, poignant footage of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, just minutes before her assassination. Bhutto was shot just moments after giving a speech at a large rally in Rawalpindi, where according to news reports the security was good because it was handled by her own party.

The revolving loop shows Bhutto walking from the rally to a waiting vehicle, clutching her white scarf with one hand and smilingly waving or shaking hands with the other. People are milling around her, evidently connected to or part of the rally event itself; no sign of ...   more »

Shocking news but probably should not be considered surprising: Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, returned from exile, has been killed. She was shot, reportedly in the chest and neck, by a suicide bomber who then blew himself up. People who oppose the smiling General Musharraf have a habit of turning up dead, as did   more »

 

In July, administration war plans proceed behind the scenes. Warnings of terrorist strikes over the July of Fourth holiday abound but are unfulfilled, with the possible exception of the Egyptian-born gunman who opens fire at the El Al Airlines desk at LAX.
July 1-10, 2002:

 

July 1, 2002 – A U.S. bombing of a wedding party in Afghanistan kills 130 Afghan civilians, according to Afghani authorities, or 40 Afghanis, according to U.S. officials. According to the U.S. officials, a large group of wedding guests was standing near an anti-artillery aircraft site. The wedding party was fired upon ...   more »