A murderous assault on Pakistani freedom

The moment is ripe for Western governments mourning the assassination of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to invest in the democracy she sought to nurture.

Money spent on the economic and political elements of civil society in Pakistan constitute the greatest tribute to the freedom Bhutto so fearlessly advocated since her return in October after eight years of exile. She was shot to death Thursday by an assailant who then blew himself up. His political affiliations are unknown and will fuel volatile speculations and conspiracies.

For now, the losses suffered by Pakistan are more important to assess, counsels Cabeiri Robinson, an assistant professor of Asian and South Asian studies at the University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies.

Bhutto had left politics and Pakistan in disgrace, dogged by corruption charges and dark rumors about her husband's links to political killings. She returned with a sullied reputation, but with the unmistakable power to challenge a military government, and attract domestic and Western audiences for her condemnations of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Her death assaults an emergent hope borne by the Pakistani people they could restore democracy, or at least create a system of accountability outside forms of raw power, Robinson said. Bhutto took on Musharraf after a declaration of emergency when she rallied forces inside and outside the country to back him off authoritarian rule in place even before his declaration.

Along with dashing hope, her murder reinforces the notion of Pakistan as it exists now, a test between the raw power of the state versus a swirling mass of insurgent groups and terrorists. Two losses bound into one, a budding leader and the mass political will behind her.

The trap for Westerners will be getting caught up in shorthand descriptions and catchphrases to describe indigenous groups and internal political tensions and lump them all as either Taliban or al-Qaida.

Robinson also advises giving Pakistan's parliamentary system a chance to move other leaders forward.

Bhutto returned home with a complicated history, but the Pakistan People's Party invested its credibility and organization in her. Parties, not individuals, win elections. Pakistan People's Party is linked to the goal of self-determination.

Let the United States lead in providing political capital to a freedom-hungry nation.