Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Narmada Sahabir
Explication of Differences between Newspapers
Explication of Differences between Newspapers
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto was covered worldwide. She was known as the “daughter of Pakistan”. She was the country’s and the Muslim world’s first female leader. Her assassination was portrayed differently throughout the world. For this project my group collected articles from the New York Times, The New York Post, and an English language Pakistani newspaper. We read all of the articles and came up with our own analysis of the event which each newspaper was trying to project.
Benazir Bhutto returned from London as a candidate for President, an opponent to military dictator President Pervez Musharraf. Her assassination took place while she was campaigning in a rally. The election coverage in Pakistan was broadcasted worldwide because Ms. Bhutto made it clear that she was against Islamic extremism and a tribune of democracy. Even before her assassination she was all over CNN, BBC World News and MSNBC, she was the little glimmer of hope that the Pakistani people had left for a democracy.
After her assassination, she was the cover of the New York Times the next day. The New York Times gave extensive detail about her death and her legacy. It described the aftermath of her death on the Pakistani people and the possibility of a successor for the Populist Peoples Party which she represented. It provided details with the investigation of her death and everything that had to do with the Pakistani government corruption which led to her assassination. Overall the New York Times exceptionally covered all outlooks and facts of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.
I concluded that the articles that were provided in the New York Times seemed to be directed toward high society, scholarly, professional, liberal and multiculturally sensitive people. This quote specifically contributes to my conclusion. “Despite numerous accusations of corruption and an evident predilection for luxury, Ms. Bhutto, the pale-skinned scion of a wealthy landowning family, successfully cast herself as a savior of Pakistan’s millions of poor and disenfranchised. She inspired devotion among her followers, even in exile, and the image of her floating through a frenzied crowd in her gauzy white scarf became iconic”. This quote does not contain vocabulary of the average middle class household.
The New York Post provided insufficient coverage of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. The articles were smaller than a paragraph, I found one that was the length of a paragraph and it all seemed opinion based. There were no real facts and details about the assassination, but there were pages of coverage on Britney Spears and her escape from rehabilitation. I gathered that this being a more local newspaper had a lack of interest in international affairs. The articles didn’t contain vocabulary on a scholarly level because it is a newspaper that is written for the common middle class, conventional and more conservative people. This newspaper assumes that the middle class does not consist of intellectuals.
The articles in the Post consisted of mostly quotes by people who are responsible for the investigation of Bhutto’s assassination. This article consisted of only a quote by C.I.A Director Michael Hayden. “Hayden said Bhutto was killed by fighters allied with Baitullah Mehsud, a tribal leader in northwestern Pakistan, with support from Al-Qaeda’s terrorist network. The Post said Hayden described the killing as “part of an organized campaign” that has included suicide bombings and other attacks on Pakistani leaders. Hayden said the same network was behind a new wave of violence threatening the stability of president Musharraf’s government, a key ally in Washington’s war on terror”. These three sentences were the length of this article and the length of most articles.
The English language Pakistani Newspaper focused on the people affected by Bhutto’s assassination. The articles discussed the political issues in Pakistan and the concerns which the people have regarding their future government. This newspaper revealed information that the New York Times didn’t have, “Pakistan has requested help from the Scotland Yard to probe at the investigation because civilians in Pakistan do not trust there government. President Musharraf blames Al Qaeda, but he has also acknowledged reports stating the scene of Bhutto's death was quickly hosed down destroying any possible evidence. The Pakistani People's Party blames Musharaff. Musharraf, he also did not grant the Scotland Yard permission to question any important politicians that could have had inside information”. I gathered that this information wasn’t disclosed because the American government didn’t want to blame President Musharraf openly because he is still there ally. And the American Government is funding the Pakistani military in the war on terror but there were reports that the money is going toward new weapons which Pakistan plans to use on India which is also the American governments ally. If President Bush does not come up with a safe solution to this problem, it is likely that President Musharraf can use these “new weapons” on the United States.
Throughout substantial research I can conclude that all newspapers don’t completely produce adequate information on particular events. The New York Times gave ample information on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto because it is distributed throughout the country, but it still couldn’t disclose the information that the Pakistani English paper provided because of political uproar that it could have caused. The New York Post relatively neglected the news coverage on Benazir Bhutto because of the fact that it is a local newspaper. The Pakistani English newspaper provided information that none of the others had because after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto Pakistan was in a state of chaos and it wouldn’t have caused any further turmoil. This project has helped me to further understand how politics is manipulated in newspapers and how it surrounds us under daily basis but as New Yorkers we never have the time to notice.
Part 1
THE ASSASSINATION OF BENAZIR BHUTTO
Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan, as well as the daughter of a prime minister of Pakistan, was assassinated on December 27, 2007. Bhutto was “a member of one of the most prominent families in Pakistan,” (NY Times) but unfortunately her family was subject to terror, which led to the deaths of her father and two brothers. Bhutto was the first female, Pakistani prime minister at the age of 35 and ruled for 6 years before moving to London. When she returned, the country was in a chaotic state and it was very hard for her to fulfill her aspirations of change for the local community.
There was a lot of speculation regarding the terrorists and their group affiliation. Initially, Bhutto was blamed by the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf for causing her own death. Musharraf claimed that Bhutto unnecessarily stood outside of her car and that she was ultimately responsible for her own death.
A couple of weeks later, it was revealed that messengers of the government killed Bhutto. Musharraf then blames Islamic extremists for the crime and denies any government involvement in the killing. Following this revelation, it was reported that the CIA blamed Al Qaeda and allies of a Pakistani tribal leader. Bhutto’s death also questions “the stability of Musharraf’s government” (The New York Times).
On January 20,2008, a young Pakistani terrorist admitted that he had participated in killing Bhutto under the authority of Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist groups. Additionally, he said that he was 1 of 5 terrorists involved in the assassination. The terrorists were given a wide array of explosives and were also responsible for numerous other local, recent, attacks.
Bhutto’s death put Pakistan in an even more precarious position and has caused Pakistan to fall into a worse political situation. The effects of her death included chaos and riots in the streets, and the loss of local trust in the Pakistani government.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Response to Pakistani/International Papers
Pakistani/International Papers:
1.The audience seems to be the local Pakistani community, as well as the European population. The articles seems to be less directed at Americans because the U.S. is being discussed in third person: “The US would respect the people’s verdict and was not wedded to any individual or party.” Alqamar news of Pakistan blames Bhutto, which expresses the sentiment of the local Pakistani community and voices their opinions.
2.Bhutto and Musharaff are both considered the villains in the story. Bhutto is blamed for not participating in an election boycott, while Musharaff is blamed for worsening the political situation in Pakistan during Bhutto’s 8-year absence. The US is also blamed for their Laissez Faire ways and lack of productivity. Boucher, “the assistant secretary to the state for South Asia,” said that: “the US does not support a UN investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.”
3.The heroes in the articles are the citizens of Pakistan. They are portrayed as helpless individuals in need of a new dynasty. “Official sources say around 800 people have died in violence since July.” Similar quotes suggest the same and prove that the Pakistanis want outside help.
4.(Comparing the Daily News to the international papers)
The Daily News attracts the local, New York, blue-collar population, while the international papers attract a more diverse, multi-cultural crowd. The Pakistani paper attracts the citizens but also affects everyone else, because their news is extremely biased because of the proximity to the scene (or unbiased, depending on how you look at it). The moments are captured right after the fact, whereas the US papers would take a few days to obtain all of the information. The cause and effect are more easily seen in the Pakistani papers, while the Daily News has a more distant view of the cause and effect.
Elizabeth John Final Paper part 3
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was a significant oppositional leader to the future of the Pakistani Government. With her death parliamentary elections will be postponed after a huge outburst of violence was triggered by the assassination according to Ki-Media.com. President Pervez Musharraf has set back the general election from January eighth to February eighteenth; he said “the postponement was justified after the assessment of the current situation and that the government is committed to a fair, transparent and free election.” (According to Chinaview.cn). This is some what of good news for Pakistan and the Peoples Party (PPP) for they will have a fair chance to choose a new candidate for election, but nobody can replace the wonderful and charismatic Benazir Bhutto who will be deeply missed by the world and especially her Pakistan’s People Party.
Benazir Bhutto was killed on December 27 2007 in a suicide bomb attack and shooting. The official cause of death was a fractured skull caused by hitting her head on part of her cars sunroof as the bomb had went off through the crowd of supporters according to CNN.com. The news was not taken easily by Pakistan. A lot of demonstrators in Karachi, Sindh providence broke out through violence. A dozen banks were burned; two train stations along with three trains were set on fire. Because of the outbreak of violence parliamentary forces in Sindh were told to “shoot on sight” to anyone who was destroying anything according to CNN.com.
The day after her death on the twenty-eighth of December the funeral service was held, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the streets of Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest in Garhi Khuda Baksh near Larkana, Pakistan. The grieving supporters were crushed up against her coffin, where a few small violent breakouts occurred amongst the crowd. Even before the procession violence erupted throughout Pakistan unfortunately taking the lives of nine people, the violent mourners also torched banks, train stations, and cars. This horrible death did obviously cause a huge upset in Pakistan throughout the angry supporters who hoped to have Bhutto help them from poverty and pain into wealth and prosperity.
On Sunday December thirtieth 2007 a news conference in Naudero near Larkana Pakistan Bhutto’s son Bilawal Zardari was nominated Chairman of Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party in hopes to succeed in his mothers honor.
Memorials were held in numerous places around the world and so many people grieved the death of this amazing woman. A memorial service was held in Bhutto’s home in Dubai on January second 2008 and one a few days after. On Friday December twenty-eighth special memorial service was held in Mississauga Muslim Community Centre in Toronto and it was organized by the Pakistan People’s Party in which hundreds attended according to EON. On January sixth a remembrance service was held. A memorial was built in honor of this courageous woman. According to Pak-times.com the Pakistan Peoples Party created a foundation named Bhutto Memorial trust in the memory of Benazir Bhutto and her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and there contributions to democracy in Pakistan. There efforts will not be forgotten. There were a lot of virtual memorials posted online by individuals, but it was difficult to locate any big newspapers with coverage or a memorial for Benazir Bhutto which is very upsetting because this woman was going to make history in the Islamic community in Pakistan.
Before her death Benazir Bhutto finished her book titled “Reconciliation”. In her book Bhutto explained her vision of Islam as “an open pluralistic and tolerant religion” that she says has been taken over by extremists. Bhutto believed that Islam and the West need not headed on a collision course toward a “clash of civilizations”. Bhutto’s mission was to turn over “years of pain, suffering, sacrifice and separation” into “an all consuming prosperity”.
Benazir Bhutto is the fourth member of her immediate family to die violently against the surroundings of Pakistani Politics. Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in 1979 on charges of having planned the murder of a minor political opponent. Then in 1985 Benazir’s younger brother Shahhawaz mysteriously died from poison. Bhutto’s other brother Murtaza was gunned down outside his home in 1996. Benazir Bhutto had suffered a great deal of grief through out her life but she did not let this stop her from pursuing her father’s original plans for a more democratic nation in Pakistan.
This woman’s assassination is enormous and will have a great affect on Pakistan and every nation in this world. Since Pakistan does have the development of nuclear weapons they are a threat to this world. Bhutto would have made a great deal of change if this incident had not occurred. America will be involved with Pakistan in some way because Pakistan is enemies with our allies; India. I feel there were not enough press and media of this woman in the United States. This women is a huge factor in history, she was the first woman who attempted to become a leader of an Islamic Pakistan which is almost near impossible. I feel this woman deserves more recognition among the United States because she was going to help turn Pakistan around but instead the United States has almost ignored the existence of this assassination with barely any coverage on the events after the assassination which I feel is unfair to this courageous woman, she will be deeply missed.
Benazir Bhutto was killed on December 27 2007 in a suicide bomb attack and shooting. The official cause of death was a fractured skull caused by hitting her head on part of her cars sunroof as the bomb had went off through the crowd of supporters according to CNN.com. The news was not taken easily by Pakistan. A lot of demonstrators in Karachi, Sindh providence broke out through violence. A dozen banks were burned; two train stations along with three trains were set on fire. Because of the outbreak of violence parliamentary forces in Sindh were told to “shoot on sight” to anyone who was destroying anything according to CNN.com.
The day after her death on the twenty-eighth of December the funeral service was held, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the streets of Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest in Garhi Khuda Baksh near Larkana, Pakistan. The grieving supporters were crushed up against her coffin, where a few small violent breakouts occurred amongst the crowd. Even before the procession violence erupted throughout Pakistan unfortunately taking the lives of nine people, the violent mourners also torched banks, train stations, and cars. This horrible death did obviously cause a huge upset in Pakistan throughout the angry supporters who hoped to have Bhutto help them from poverty and pain into wealth and prosperity.
On Sunday December thirtieth 2007 a news conference in Naudero near Larkana Pakistan Bhutto’s son Bilawal Zardari was nominated Chairman of Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party in hopes to succeed in his mothers honor.
Memorials were held in numerous places around the world and so many people grieved the death of this amazing woman. A memorial service was held in Bhutto’s home in Dubai on January second 2008 and one a few days after. On Friday December twenty-eighth special memorial service was held in Mississauga Muslim Community Centre in Toronto and it was organized by the Pakistan People’s Party in which hundreds attended according to EON. On January sixth a remembrance service was held. A memorial was built in honor of this courageous woman. According to Pak-times.com the Pakistan Peoples Party created a foundation named Bhutto Memorial trust in the memory of Benazir Bhutto and her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and there contributions to democracy in Pakistan. There efforts will not be forgotten. There were a lot of virtual memorials posted online by individuals, but it was difficult to locate any big newspapers with coverage or a memorial for Benazir Bhutto which is very upsetting because this woman was going to make history in the Islamic community in Pakistan.
Before her death Benazir Bhutto finished her book titled “Reconciliation”. In her book Bhutto explained her vision of Islam as “an open pluralistic and tolerant religion” that she says has been taken over by extremists. Bhutto believed that Islam and the West need not headed on a collision course toward a “clash of civilizations”. Bhutto’s mission was to turn over “years of pain, suffering, sacrifice and separation” into “an all consuming prosperity”.
Benazir Bhutto is the fourth member of her immediate family to die violently against the surroundings of Pakistani Politics. Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in 1979 on charges of having planned the murder of a minor political opponent. Then in 1985 Benazir’s younger brother Shahhawaz mysteriously died from poison. Bhutto’s other brother Murtaza was gunned down outside his home in 1996. Benazir Bhutto had suffered a great deal of grief through out her life but she did not let this stop her from pursuing her father’s original plans for a more democratic nation in Pakistan.
This woman’s assassination is enormous and will have a great affect on Pakistan and every nation in this world. Since Pakistan does have the development of nuclear weapons they are a threat to this world. Bhutto would have made a great deal of change if this incident had not occurred. America will be involved with Pakistan in some way because Pakistan is enemies with our allies; India. I feel there were not enough press and media of this woman in the United States. This women is a huge factor in history, she was the first woman who attempted to become a leader of an Islamic Pakistan which is almost near impossible. I feel this woman deserves more recognition among the United States because she was going to help turn Pakistan around but instead the United States has almost ignored the existence of this assassination with barely any coverage on the events after the assassination which I feel is unfair to this courageous woman, she will be deeply missed.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Response to The New York Post
e Assassination of Benazir Bhutto:
Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan was assassinated on December 27, 2007. There was a lot of speculation regarding the terrorists who killed Bhutto and their group affiliation. Initially, Bhutto was blamed by the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He claimed that Bhutto unnecessarily stood outside her car, and therefore she was responsible for her own death.
A couple of weeks later, it was revealed that messengers of the government killed Bhutto. Musharaff blamed Islamic extremists for the attack. A few days following this revelation, it was reported that that the CIA blamed al Qaeda as well as allies of a Pakistani tribal leader. This attack questioned the stability of Musharaff’s government. On January 20, 2008, a young Pakistani admitted to his participation in killing Bhutto under the authority of al Qaeda and Taliban. Additionally, he revealed that he was one of five terrorists involved in Bhutto’s assassination. The terrorists were given a wide array of explosives and were also responsible for many other attacks.
Bhutto’s assassination put Pakistan into an even more precarious position and has caused Pakistan to fall into a worse political situation. The results of Bhutto’s death included chaos and riots throughout the streets. The Bhutto regime had now completely fallen.
1. The audience of The New York Post seems to attract American, Blue-Collar citizens. The lack of extensiveness following the assassination proves that there wasn’t such a strong interest in Bhutto from the local New York community. The Post’s audience is generally more concerned with local news, while less concerned with international affairs. The syntax in the Post could very well be found in a magazine. The title for the January 20th article about Bhutto is titled “Bhutto Slay Bust.” The word “bust” takes away from the credibility of the article and proves that the audience is more heavily geared towards Blue- Collar society.
2. In the first article, Bhutto is portrayed as the villain. The Post brings quotes such as “responsibility is hers” and “Bhutto was warned” to prove that she was at fault. The rest of the articles appear to be minimally more factual. This could have been because more information was unleashed after the first terrorist was interrogated. It is interesting to see that there are even “villains” in the case of natural disasters. For example, after Hurricane Katrina hit, the mayor of New Orleans was blamed for his lack of effort to help the community. The Post needs a villain in most stories in order to make the news more captivating and to show its viewpoint on the subject at hand.
3. Musharaff is considered to be the hero. Although it is assumed that he organized the assassination, he is portrayed in a positive light in the article. He seems to be quite arrogant and therefore felt that he had the right to organize an attack such as this one. He rules a corrupt country as a corrupt leader. His assurance when he says he “absolutely believed it was possible that Bhutto died of a gunshot wound,” shows his confidence in his decision.
The Economist
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10430324&CFID=7375857&CFTOKEN=ce27200b0fdc5797-EDBFFF9B-B27C-BB00-012B8A33E2B139A2
News Coverage of the Assassination of Benazir Bhutto
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3639515685986253545&q=assassination+of+benazir+bhutto&total=877&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
Questions for New York Times Articles Elizabeth John
1) The audience seems to be individuals who are interested in the American government and its involvement in the Pakistan government. " That leaves Mr. Bush with the principled if unfamiliar, option of using American prestige and resources to fortify Pakistans badly battered democratic institutions." This quote is a good example of who the audience of these articles. Bush is left with a huge decision on how he is going to deal with the Pakistan and its leaders, his decision is going to affect all Americans. 2) The villans in the story are suspected individuals responsible for the assasination. These individuals consist of Mr. Mehsud a military leader and President Musharraf. they appear in all talks of suspects of the assasination. 3) The hero in these stories is Bhutto. Her leadership and determination put her so close to becoming the prime minister for a third time, where she could have bought great change to the Pakistan government. The hero is also the Bush Administration because they are going to have to help the election to not be fixed and for it to be fair. 4) The New York Times focuses more on the American Governments involvement with the Pakistani Government. The events of our involvement and future involvement in the country are described in more detail than any other paper. In this paper there was an article published on August 9 1990 that described the past events before Bhutto and Musharraf which gave me great insight to how the events unfolded and where they are today. This article showed how far back the story goes between the two pakistani political parties and no other paper has provided that information.
New York Times Articles Elizabeth John
Political issues in Pakistan have been occuring for decades. The political forces consist of the Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party and the anti-peoples party force represented by the Zia Ul-Haq constituency. Benazir Bhutto is the daughter of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was overthrown by General Zia in 1977 and hanged in 1979. Benazir Bhutto had wide public sympathy when she won the election in November 1988. Benazir Bhutto was Prime Minister for two years from 1988 to 1990 until her government was dismissed by the president of Pakistan. General Zia died in a plane crash that also killed the U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphael. The ceremony for General Zia was held where is son Mr. Ijaz planned to speak for his own political future. He planned to exploit Bhutto's husband and father-in law. After Bhutto was Prime Minister again from 1993 to 1996 she had exiled herself to London. Upon returning to Pakistan there was raised hopes in Pakistan that democracy and stability may be obtained, but with her assasiantion Pakistan may be from achieving anything of this sought. Her death leaves the Bush Administration with a question and no strategy for helping Pakistan especailly with the unaccountable dictation of President Musharraf. Mr. Bush and Washington must now call new rules to assure a truly democratic vote in the upcoming elections. Pakistans People Party must be allowed to select a new candidate and launch a campaign. Washington has also demanded that Pakistans other main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif be allowed to run. Washington must also try to get President Musharraf to reinstate the impartial supreme court he fired last month in order to block a rigged election. The Bhutto family are democratic but imperfect political leaders. Even though the father was imperious and Benazir was brought on corruption charges these two leaders both had electoral legitimacy. The Bush administration has to rethink alot. We have been supplying billions of dollars to Pakistan's Military. The money is supposed to finance the fight against Al Queda and the Taliban. A report in the Times has stated otherwise, it showed that Washington hasn't been keeping a close watch and much of the money has been going to projects that interest President Musharraf and the army. Pakistan has been building weapons against our allies India while Al Queda and the Taliban continue to make gains. American policy must now be set on building a strong democracy in Pakistan that the respect and support of its own citizens and the will to fight Al Queda and the Taliban. CIA's judgement is the first formal assessment by the American government about who was responsible for the assasination which took place in a rally in the Garinson city of Rawalpindi. Officials have obtained different pieces of information that have painted to the man responsible for the assasination is Mr. Mehsud. Pakistani authorites announced that they intercepted communications between Mr. Mehsud and militant supporters in which Mehsud congratulated his followers for the assasination and seemed to take responsibilty for it. But Mehsud has denied responsiblity and suggested the assasins were directed by Musharraf who is a longtime rival of Bhutto. Family and friends balme Musharraf for not supplying Bhutto with adequete security while campaigning. American and Pakastani officials have blamed Mr. Mehsud's followers for many recent suicide attacks against government military and intelligence in Pakistan.
Elizabeth John's Questions for International Newspapers
1) In the articles that were obtained more from International newspapers the audience seems to be people who would be affected by the assasination. I feel this way because the articles focus on the political issues and concerns around the assasination. The articles state facts about what is to come for the people of Pakistan and its surrounding countries. 2) The villan in these stories is President Musharraf. This man is the man who is preventing Pakistan from becoming a civilain government. He is also horrible for acknowledging the report that stated the crime scene had been hosed down immediately after the death destroying any possible evidence. Pakistans People do not trust this man. 3) The hero is Bhutto's husband Zardari. He is going to try to continue what his wife started and continuing to campaign on her behalf. 4) This newspaper describes the events before, during and after Bhutto's death in full detail. These papers emphasize on the political issues between the people of Pakistan and the army controlled government. These papers described Bhutto as being a huge asset to changing this government back to a democracy.
Elizabeth John Synopsis of International New Articles
Before her death Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was trying to achieve the change of Pakistan's government from a military controlled government to a democratic government. Benazir Bhutto traveled across Pakistan campaigning her Pakistan's People Party (PPP) telling people to vote for her. Her extensive campaign has attributed to this party being the largest in Pakistan today. It is now difficult to tell with her death, if her gaol will be achieved.
There are alot of political issues occuring in Pakistan today. The main issues have been created by the ethnic separitism in Balcuhistan and Sinah provinces, and the recent uprisings in the Federal Administerd Tribal Area (FATA) bordering Afghanistan. Each of these areas require a certain political solution.
Benazir Bhutto was trying very hard to bring Pakistan back to democracy. Bhutto even went out of her way to show herself associated with the Bush Administration and the war on terror, which then put her in a negative light with the Pakistani Military. Now with her assasination the process of change from a military government to a civilian government is going to be very difficult. Elections have been postponed until Feburary. Pakistan's future remains in the hands of President Pervez Musharraf and the government can either remain a government that is controlled by the military or back to a civilian governement.
Pakistan has requested help from the Scotland Yard to probe at the investigation because civilians in Pakistan do not trust there government. President Musharraf blames Al Queda, but he has also acknowledged reports stating the scene of Bhutto's death was quickly hosed down destroying any possible evidence. The Pakistan People's Party blames Musharaff. Musharraf also did not grant the Scotland Yard permission to question any important politicians that could of had inside information.
Campaigning has been non-existent prior to Bhutto's death, but banners continue to hang in every town and village. Police have arrested a teenager who is suspected to be involoved, and police are still searching for two of his accomplices. Bhutto's husband Zardari will now continue to battle for votes after the forty day mourning period. Pakistan can only hope that the PPP will in the end be the winning party.
There are alot of political issues occuring in Pakistan today. The main issues have been created by the ethnic separitism in Balcuhistan and Sinah provinces, and the recent uprisings in the Federal Administerd Tribal Area (FATA) bordering Afghanistan. Each of these areas require a certain political solution.
Benazir Bhutto was trying very hard to bring Pakistan back to democracy. Bhutto even went out of her way to show herself associated with the Bush Administration and the war on terror, which then put her in a negative light with the Pakistani Military. Now with her assasination the process of change from a military government to a civilian government is going to be very difficult. Elections have been postponed until Feburary. Pakistan's future remains in the hands of President Pervez Musharraf and the government can either remain a government that is controlled by the military or back to a civilian governement.
Pakistan has requested help from the Scotland Yard to probe at the investigation because civilians in Pakistan do not trust there government. President Musharraf blames Al Queda, but he has also acknowledged reports stating the scene of Bhutto's death was quickly hosed down destroying any possible evidence. The Pakistan People's Party blames Musharaff. Musharraf also did not grant the Scotland Yard permission to question any important politicians that could of had inside information.
Campaigning has been non-existent prior to Bhutto's death, but banners continue to hang in every town and village. Police have arrested a teenager who is suspected to be involoved, and police are still searching for two of his accomplices. Bhutto's husband Zardari will now continue to battle for votes after the forty day mourning period. Pakistan can only hope that the PPP will in the end be the winning party.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
New York Post Articles
New York Post Article 1
Terror Group Killed Bhutto: CIA Chief January 18th, 2008
This is a very small article that states that the CIA blames Al Qaeda and allies for Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. This was discussed in a Washington Post interview with CIA director, Michael Hayden. Hayden said that Baitullah Mehsud, an ally with Al Qaeda is responsible. The Post described the killing as “part of an organized campaign” that has included suicide bombings and other attacks on Pakistani leaders. This was a new revelation in the case of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.
Questions
1. This article was very small, it is from the New York Post. This is a newspaper that is written for the common middle class, more conservative. The article didn’t provide a lot of detail. The vocabulary and language is not on a college level. This newspaper assumes that the middle class doesn’t consist of intellectuals.
2. The villain in this story is Baitullah Mehsud, because of new information the CIA believes that the assassins were under Mehsud’s direction.
3. There are no heroes in this article, but the CIA is working hard to create a safe democracy for the people of Pakistan.
4. This newspaper differs from the New York Times because of the language and vocabulary. The article doesn’t have any details. I feel that this newspaper isn’t written for intellectuals because it doesn’t provide any real content in the article. All of the articles written about Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in the New York Times provides so many details that its hard to summarize but the articles in the Post are like excerpts.
New York Post Article 2
Pakistan Poll: Blame Pervez January 14th, 2008
This article is states the link between the government agencies and government linked politicians involvement in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. There is said to be major corruption in the upcoming elections and President Musharraf is responsible. It also says that President Musharraf blames Islamic extremists.
Questions
1. This article is again very small, it doesn’t provide any details and it appears to be opinion based with no facts. This is a newspaper written for the middle class, so the audience is the average middle class.
2. The villain in this story appears to be President Musharraf because of his possible involvement in the assassination of Bhutto.
3. There are no heroes in this story because no facts are provided.
New York Post Article 3
Musharraf Blames Bhutto By: Bill Sanderson 1/6/08
This article states that President Musharraf blamed Benazir Bhutto for her own assassination in a TV news interview. She died Dec. 27, in a terrorist suicide attack. “For standing up outside her the car, I think it was she to blame alone. Nobody else. Resopnsibility is hers,” Musharraf said this in an interview that is going to air on 60 minutes. President Musharraf says that she was well aware that she was a target and she was given all the security she needed. Bhutto’s widowed husband, Asif Ali Zardari, accused members of Pakistans ruling regime for his wife’s killing. He insisted on a UN investigation stating that “ an investigation conducted by the government of Pakistan will have no credibility”.
Question
1. The audience seems to be middle class. The vocabulary in this article isn’t articulate and sophisticated as those in the New York Times.
2. The villain in this story is President Musharraf, because he blamed Bhutto for her own assassination, it was a very malicious thing to do publicly.
3. There are no heroes in this story, the UN will be investigating the assassination further.
New York Post Article 4
Bhutto Slay Bust
By Bill Sanderson 1/20/08
This article reveals that there is a teenage boy, Aitezaz Shah only 15, under arrest in Pakistan admitting that he was one of five suicide bombers assigned by Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives to carry out the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Shah's "handler" Sher Zaman was also arrested.
Shah told police that he had two accomplices named Akram and Bilal. They were assigned to target Bhutto first and if they failed him and his acomplice were to make sure the job was done. Bilal succeeded, shooting Bhutto then detonating a massive suicide bomb strapped to his body. The blast killed 20 people and wounded hundreds.
The death of Bhutto caused poltical chaos, forced a delay in elections and triggered riots that killed 40. C.I.A director, Michael Hayden agrees with President Pervez Musharraf's government that the Bhutto plot was lead by Baitullah Mehsud, a man in his 30's linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Questions
1. The audience is people who are interested in the assassination case of Benazir Bhutto. This article provided much more detail than the previous articles from the Post.
2. The villain in this story is Baitullah Mehsud, he is the mastermind behind the asassination plot of Benazir Bhutto. The CIA and the UN investigation also came to this conclusion.
3. The heroes in this story is the C.I.A, UN and the counterterrorism officials who have been working hard to solve this case.
New York Times Articles
NEW YORK TIMES
Article 1
Benazir Bhutto was known as the “daughter of Pakistan”. She was elected twice for prime minister and was expelled twice from office because of corruption charges that led to her self-imposed exile in London for the last ten years. She returned home last fall as a candidate in opposition to President Pervez Musharraf. She made it clear that she was against Islamic extremism and a tribune of democracy.
She was assassinated on December 28th in a combined shooting and bombing attack at a rally. She was campaigning for upcoming elections, despite a previous failed assassination attempt against her the day she returned in October. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hung after he founded the populists Peoples Party and he was overthrown. Benazir at the age of 24 became the successor of PP.
In October she staged a high profile return to her home city of Karachi, drawing hundreds of thousands of supporters to an 11 hour rally and leading a series of political demonstrations in opposition to the country’s Military leader, President Pervez Musharraf. The triumphal return parade was bombed killing 134 people and wounding more that 400. Ms. Bhutto narrowly escaped and shouted at a later rally “Bhutto is alive”. After the first assassination attempt, she asked President Musharraf to ensure her with proper security. A request he never granted. She knew her life was at risk, but she died a heroine to her people of Pakistan. She’s remembered as intelligent, ambitious, resilient and courageous. She endured her father’s assassination and her own imprisonment at the hands of a military dictator to become the country’s and the Muslim world’s first female leader.
Questions
1. The audience seems to be high class, liberal and politically savvy people. This quote specifically contributes to my conclusion, “Despite numerous accusations of corruption and an evident predilection for luxury, Ms. Bhutto, the pale-skinned scion of a wealthy landowning family, successfully cast herself as a savior of Pakistan’s millions of poor and disenfranchised. She inspired devotion among her followers, even in exile, and the image of her floating through a frenzied crowd in her gauzy white scarf became iconic”.
2. The villain in this story is President Pervez Musharraf, because he didn’t ensure her with proper security and it was his responsibility to do so as President.
3. The hero in this story is Benazir Bhutto herself. She remains an iconic figure and died fighting for her people of the Peoples Party and for democracy.
4. This story would differ from other newpapers because of the language and vocabulary content. The New York Post writes for local people, middle class. This newspaper is clearly written for high society, upper class.
Article 2
Editorial- After Benazir Bhutto
Published 12/28/07
This article describes the predicament that Bhutto’s death left the Bush administration in. Now they are left with no strategy for extricating Pakistan from its crisis or rooting out Al Qaeda and the Taliban. This leaves President Bush with no option but to use American prestige and resources to fortify Pakistan’s badly battered democratic institutions. It is now Washington’s duty to call for new rules to assure a truly democratic vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections. And it must insist that President Musharraf reinstate the impartial Supreme Court judges he fired last month in order to block them from overturning his rigged election. This means that they will allow Ms. Bhutto’s party, which is the country’s largest to choose a new candidate for prime minister. America’s policy must now be directed at building a strong democracy in Pakistan that has the respect and support of its own citizens, as well as the will and the means to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Questions
1. The audience is people who are aware of the role that the United States government plays in international affairs, people who are interested in government and politics. This article is from the New York Times, so it is aimed at high society people.
2. There are no villains in this story. The purpose of this article is to inform people that the Bush administration needs to be careful of how to approach Pakistan because President Pervez Musharraf is an unreliable ally.
3. There are no heroes in this story. This article reinstates how critical it is to be careful when dealing with foreign affairs because of Pakistan’s situation. The Bush administration is funneling billions into Pakistan’s military. That money is supposed to finance the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. In recent reports, they say Washington hasn’t kept a close watch on the money and it has gone to projects like building weapon systems aimed at America’s ally India. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda and the Taliban continued to make alarming gains. This is why President Bush has to come up with a solution to fix this problem and still remain an ally of Pakistan. Otherwise Pakistan can use all of there new “projects” on the U.S.
Article #3
C.I.A. Sees Qaeda Link in the Death of Bhutto
Published January 19, 2008
By Mark Mazzetti
This article discusses the possible link that the Central Intelligence Agency noticed between Baitullah Mehsud and Bhutto’s assassination. Mehsud is a Pakistani militant leader in hiding and he has had some ties to Al Qaeda. They concluded that the assassins were directed by Mehsud.
The C.I.A. has a source which is an American intelligence official who spoke out anonymously saying that he has “powerful reason’s to believe that terror networks around Mehsud were responsible” and that “different pieces of information” had pointed to Mehsud’s responsibility as well. Within days of Ms. Bhutto’s assassination, Pakistani authorities announced they had intercepted communications between Mr. Mehsud and militant supporters in which they said the leader had congratulated his followers for the assassination and appeared to take responsibility. Mr. Mehsud’s spokesperson, released a statement saying that he denied responsibility for the killing and suggested that the assassins were directed by Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s president and a longtime rival of Bhutto. Members of Bhutto’s family and political party have challenged the Pakistani government accounts of the attack. They have blamed President Musharraf for not providing Ms.Bhutto with proper security as she campaigned around the country and some hint that the government was behind the assassination. The Bush administration is currently considering proposals to step up covert actions in Pakistan against the Qaeda network.
Questions
1. The audience is intellectuals who are well aware of international affairs and are well educated. It is targeted at people who are concerned with the facts of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. This article discusses the possibility of an Al Qaeda link to the assassination and a link to the government and President Musharraf.
2. The villain’s in this story is Baitullah Mehsud and President Musharraf because this article states the possible involvement of them in the assassination. Also because President Musharraf didn’t provide adequate protect for Ms. Bhutto when she was campaigning.
3. The heroes in this article seem to be the C.I.A. and the British Government because they are working hard to figure out who is responsible for the assassination. The intelligence and the counterterrorism officials are trying to produce a plan to dismantle terrorist networks in Pakistan.
Article 4
Bhutto’s Assassination Ignites Disarray
By Salman Masood and Carlotta Gall
Published December 28th, 2008
This article discusses the chaos that occurred after Bhutto’s assassination in Pakistan. The assassination ignited widespread violence by her enraged supporters. Ms. Bhutto, 54, was shot in the neck or the head, according to different accounts, as she stood in the open sunroof of the car and waved to crowds. Seconds later a suicide attacker detonated his bomb killing more than 20 people and wounding over 50.
She was a leading contender to become Prime Minister after the Jan, 8 elections, campaigning as an advocate for Pakistan’s People party after 8 years of military rule under Mr. Musharraf, who relinquished his post only this month. She also presented herself as the individual who could best combat growing militancy in Pakistan. Her comments condemning militancy and suicide bombing had made her a target of Qaeda-linked militants in Pakistan. Her homecoming procession in Karachi was attacked with two bomb blasts that killed 150 supporters and narrowly missed killing her.
Much of the rage over Bhutto’s assassination is likely to be directed at Mr. Musharraf. He kept her out of power for eight years and had shown her only a grudging welcome at first and later outright hostility. Ms. Bhutto has long accused the country’s premiere military intelligence agency, the Inter- Services Intelligence, or ISI, of working against her and her party because they oppose her liberal, secular agenda. All of these allegations are causing complete disarray and unreliability throughout the government and country. Once again everyone in the country agrees that there wasn’t adequate security for Bhutto. Who is there to blame for that other than President Musharraf.
Questions
1. The audience for this article is for intellectuals who are interested in foreign affairs. The language is reminiscent of high society, particularly the vocabulary. This is a quote that supports my conclusion, “A deeply polarizing figure, Ms. Bhutto spent 30 years navigating the turbulent and often violent world of Pakistani politics, becoming in 1988 the first woman to lead a modern Muslim country”.
2. The villains in this story is President Musharraf and the ISI who is under investigation for possibly collaborating with Mr. Musharraf and other government officials in the assassination.
3. The heroes in this story are the counterterrorism officials who are investigating along with the C.I.A. and the British Government.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Narmada's Links
Video 1
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/12/30/verjee.bhutto.new.video.cnn?iref=videosearch
Video 2
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/12/28/bpr.bhutto.assassination.rashid.cnn?iref=videosearch
Article
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/01/07/bhutto.commentary/index.html?iref=newssearch
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/12/30/verjee.bhutto.new.video.cnn?iref=videosearch
Video 2
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/12/28/bpr.bhutto.assassination.rashid.cnn?iref=videosearch
Article
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/01/07/bhutto.commentary/index.html?iref=newssearch
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