Scotland Yard Report Hardly a Shocker!
By Adnan Gill
Rancho Palos Verdes , CA
Alas, the Scotland Yard released its report on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. It was more of speculative narration of events, rather than an evidence-based statement of facts. Not of Scotland Yard’s fault, the report did not answer more important questions, like who was the killer, who masterminded the attack, and how the security cordon around Ms. Bhutto collapsed? Scotland Yard didn’t go over these questions because it was mandated to investigate only the cause of Ms. Bhutto’s death and nothing else. As expected, it corroborated what the Pakistani government had already stated. Corroboration was expected, not because there is a joint-conspiracy to hide the truth, it was expected because every aspect of the investigation was dependent on the goodwill of the Pakistani investigators, who miserably failed to gather any worthwhile evidence.
If one would read between the lines, the inconclusiveness of the report becomes rather obvious. UK Home Office pathologist, Dr. Nathaniel Cary, conceded that they were “unable [to] categorically exclude the possibility of there being a gunshot wound to the upper trunk or neck” of Ms Bhutto. “In my opinion Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto died as a result of a severe head injury sustained as a consequence of the bomb-blast and due to head impact somewhere in the escape hatch of the vehicle,” Dr. Cary said in the report. The word ‘somewhere’ speaks volumes about how little evidence they had to work with and how speculative the report was. Whether she died from a gunshot or by hitting her head on the lip of escape hatch should be of little consequence, as the whole world knows shots were fired at Ms. Bhutto and a bomb was exploded. But a complete and conclusive report could have quashed some of the conspiracy theories.
Total and absolute collapse of Ms. Bhutto’s security shall remain a source of embarrassment and a blot on the government’s face. However, Benazir Bhutto’s husband Asif Ali Zardari should also be held responsible for assigning ex-convicts -- who he befriended in jail -- on her personal security. Perhaps one day, he would be bold enough to share with the rest of us the wisdom behind choosing ex-convicts over professionals to protect his wife’s life. Mr. Zardari should also explain why he refused to allow the authorities to perform a postmortem, while at the same time he left the postmortem option open if the UN-sponsored investigators requested one.
As promised, Ms. Bhutto’s party and Mr. Zardari didn’t waste a moment in rejecting the Scotland Yard report and renewed their odd demand of a UN-sponsored investigation. It is an odd demand, because only the UN Security Council (UNSC) can form such an investigative body, and the United Kingdom is one of its permanent members. If the UK was a part of some conspiracy then it wouldn’t allow the formation of any investigative body. And in case the UNSC grants Mr. Zardari’s wish, then who are they going to send for investigation? Most probably, they are also going to send Scotland Yard and/or the American FBI. One has to wonder how or why Mr. Zardari and his party would trust Scotland Yard sent by the UN when they refuse to accept its current report. It’s not like the UN investigators would have a time machine, they would travel back in time, to gather additional evidence. Mr. Zardari’s demand of UN investigation is inconsequential, irresponsible, useless, and redundant at best.
If Mr. Zardari is honestly interested in finding the truth, it’s still not too late for him to request the government to exhume Ms. Bhutto’s body for a postmortem. As insurance, he could insist that the postmortem be done in the presence of his own pathologists or in the presence of third-party, like the Scotland Yard’s pathologists.
Unless Mr. Zardari is interested in maintaining ambiguity to give him room for political maneuvering, he should fully cooperate with the investigators to set the record straight. Similarly, the government should have had a broader mandate for the Scotland Yard investigators. Their mandate should have included, but not have been limited to, investigating the Pakistani officials involved in Ms. Bhutto’s murder investigations. By unnecessarily impeding the investigation, both Mr. Zardari and the government are fanning the ambers of rumor mills.
