Benazir is Not the Answer

The MSM appears to have selected Benazir Bhutto as the great democrat to lead Pakistan out of its quagmire. She is beautiful and well-spoken and charming. She's also corrupt, inept, and nepotistic. On balance, exactly the last person you want stepping into a charged environment. Let's review the tape:

• Corruption. In her two stints in office (88-90, 93-96), she was constantly on the take. Foreign governments offered bribes for sweetheart deals, and Switzerland disclosed a money-laundering scheme involving Bhutto and her husband.
• Ineptitude. Bhutto has always claimed to be a leader of the people, but her initiatives to empower women and the poor went nowhere. Another example of her political short-sightedness--she sided with the Taliban in Afghanistan as a stabilizing influence. You can look at the way she managed (which is to say mismanaged) her Gandhi-inspired "march" to see her leadership in action.
• Nepotism. Benazir's father Zulfikar founded the Pakistan People's Party, and the Bhuttos are a ruling-class family going back to the British Raj. Bhutto, like his daughter, was an inept leader; worse, he was an opportunist and a thug--which is one of the reasons his career ended in assassination. Benazir's rise comes solely by virtue of her last name.

If Bhutto somehow regains leadership, don't expect her to be able to manage the forces that roil her country--poverty, religious strife, and instability. Pakistan's history is defined mainly--and in contrast to its democratic neighbor, India--by its weak leadership. Expecting a weak former leader to step in and right the ship is madness.