In a ten-part 2018 podcast, the BBC World Service investigated the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of a former prime minister who was seeking to become Pakistan’s first female leader. Instead a suicide bomber ended her life.
A friend called it to my attention (HT/Jeffrey) and it is a compelling look at the possible involvement Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency,. In Pakistan, the discourse of a “deep state” is uncontroversial. The ISI is widely considered a deep state apparatus that effectively wields veto power over the country’s elected officials.
Here’s the segment about Bhutto’s assassination on December 27, 2007.
And here’s a segment on the intimidation and killing of those who sought to investigate the crime. “Somebody doesn’t want us to connect some dots,” said Bilal Bhutto, son of the slain leader.
Host Owen Bennett-Jones suggests that the bombmaker was working for ISI agency, though Bhutto’s associates won’t go that far, at least not on the record
“No one, from paupers to presidents, wants to cross the Deep State,” Bennett-Jones concludes.
– The Assassination – Available now
