I looked into the situation around Benazir Bhutto saying that Osama was murdered...

[jmhudak17]

And I found that it was an obvious slip of the tongue. She probably meant to say Daniel Pearl, as she mentions the man who murdered him. It's obvious from interviews before/after that incident that she thinks Bin Laden was alive.
First, here's a quote from June 2007:

"If the Taliban are eliminated, or if their poster-boy Osama bin Laden is caught, the international cries for restoration of democracy will only deepen"

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-06-09/us/27969285_1_musharraf-regime-pakistan-people-s-party-ppp-leader-benazir-bhutto

Now, here's another quote from another interview after the interview in which she said that Osama bin Laden was murdered:
"I don't think General Musharraf personally knows where Osama bin Laden is, but I do feel that people around him are many who are associated with the earlier military dictatorship of the '80s."

Here's another quote from an interview with Greta van Susteren after the Frost Interview: "Well, I think Osama bin Laden must be rubbing his hands with glee as he looks at what’s happening in Pakistan and how there is civil unrest in the country, how large parts of the tribal areas have fallen under the sway of his supporters as have parts of the frontier province and now they are moving into yet another state known as the northern area."


These three quotes show that she thought Osama was still alive both before and after her interview with David Frost.

[SilentBull]

Interesting. Makes sense. Thanks for the info.

[kkassam]

thanks for this.

[moostraks]

Thanks for this. I was looking into what you posted. I have a problem with someone confusing the name Daniel Pearl with Osama Bin Laden. Not quite as easy as Obama- Osama slips. Then you pair that with no rebuttal or clarification from Frost and the BBC edit along with her death by sunroof knob and things look a bit sketchy. I always figured he died of natural causes rather than murder so my consideration of Bhutto's statements was more of the Bin Laden death being common knowledge outside of American borders was accepted without question and that only Americans were duped into believing he was still alive, notwithstanding manner of death being in dispute.

I did find this response while digging around by a theorist regarding your quotes and others thought I would forward for arguments sake.


that is consistent with her knowing that bin Laden is dead. Until a family member or other associate of hers specifically corrects the record this remains a legitimate avenue of inquiry, imho. Let's go through the statements, shall we?

One day after the Frost interview on November 3, 2007, Bhutto was asked by CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield if she blamed General Pervez Musharraf for helping to produce safe havens in Pakistan, where "Osama bin Laden, the most-wanted terrorist in the world, just might be taking refuge?"

Bhutto's answer to this was...

"I wouldn't like to go so far as to blame General Musharraf directly, but I would certainly say that many people in his administration and his security apparatus responsible for internal security make me feel very uneasy. And I believe that tribal areas of Pakistan could not have become safe havens without collusion of some of the elements in the present administration. And this is why I believe that regime change is very important."

Bhutto makes no direct statement about bin Laden here, she effectively evades the question. Instead she implies that "some elements of the present administration" are colluding with al Qaeda and the Taliban, which we know to be true. Whitfield asks a conditional question, effectively throwing Bhutto a softball.

Bhutto was then asked by Whitfield...

"Do you think General Musharraf knows where Osama bin Laden is?

Bhutto's response...

"I don't think General Musharraf personally knows where Osama bin Laden is, but I do feel that people around him are many who are associated with the earlier military dictatorship of the '80s. That military dictatorship formed the Iran Mujahideen. The Mujahideen subsequently became Al Qaeda and Taliban. So I believe that break has not been made between the supporters and sympathizers of the Mujahideen and thereby, of the Taliban and Al Qaeda that is necessary. We need an administration and a security apparatus that does not have people with links to the Iran Jihad of the '80s."

Bhutto the lawyer is very precise here when she says that she doesn't "think General Musharraf personally knows where Osama bin Laden is", she then skillfully sidesteps the question by talking about the connections between some "people around him" (clearly ISI and Pakistani military) and the Mujahideen, al Qaeda and the Taliban. She says nothing about whether bin Laden is alive or dead, nor did Whitfield ask that question, which one would assume to be THE question following the statement Bhutto made the night before. Is it in CNN's interests to report that bin Laden is dead?

June 2007...

Mush's toppling, not a nightmare for West: Bhutto
9 Jun 2007 (The Times Of India)
"If the Taliban are eliminated, or if their poster-boy Osama bin Laden is caught, the international cries for restoration of democracy will only deepen"

First point here is that this is four months before her statement to Frost, in November, she has returned to Pakistan and gotten new intelligence, perhaps been told of bin Laden's assassination. Second, this sets the table for her to say something like "bin Laden is dead, the war on terror cannot be used to postpone Pakistani democracy any longer." She is not explicitly stating that he is alive, it is a very useful conditional statement that someone might say, especially if they knew bin Laden was dead and were holding that card for later.

Oct 2007...

Bhutto Would Let U.S. Target Bin Laden
Pakistan Opposition Leader Benazir Bhutto Would Accept U.S. Aid in Targeting Osama Bin Laden
Oct 1, 2007 (AP)
"If there is overwhelming evidence, I would hope that I would be able to take Osama bin Laden myself without depending on the Americans,"

When you think about this, this is actually a very clever statement. Assuming she already knew him to be dead, she is confidently stating that she thinks she can get bin Laden without the help of the U.S. Taking a dead man is a slam dunk.

I think it is useful to think of the knowledge of Osama bin Laden being dead as a card in a game of poker. Played carefully, you can maneuver your way into power, wealth or both. Played carelessly, you can get yourself killed, even if you are an internationally known politician.

As I said in another thread:

It is entirely possible that Benazir Bhutto let slip a dangerous truth at an inopportune time. The next day Musharraf declares a state of emergency and shuts off all non-state controlled media, effectively limiting which media talk to her. Five days later he puts Bhutto under house arrest, directly controlling which journalists get to interview her.

Bin Laden's first messages after 9/11 were clear denials of responsibility for the attacks.

Saeed Sheikh is then used to silence the misbehaving patsy in late 2001 or early 2002 and then gives himself up to his masters at the ISI for protection in February 2002.

There is more than one report of a bin Laden funeral around this time.

All subsequent bin Laden audio's and video's support the U.S. myth of 9/11 and are highly questionable.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed now takes the blame for Daniel Pearl and eventually Saeed Sheikh quietly gets released again.

I think this conjecture is just as likely as a not-so-simple slip of the tongue. In the context of the Frost interview it seems quite clear to me that Bhutto is carefully implying that the ISI/"al Qaeda" nexus was involved in the bombing they were discussing. In this context it makes perfect sense that she would let slip a significant fact like the assassination of bin Laden. Why did she carefully mention Hamza bin Laden and not OBL when discussing possible perpetrators? Additionally, Bhutto's statements after Nov. 2 are ambiguous non-denial denials. If there is a clear correction of the record by Bhutto, I have yet to see it or read it.

In my opinion this is worth pursuing a bit more to see where it leads.

I freely admit that this is all conjecture, but it does fit all the facts I am aware of.

At this point, dismissing it as a slip of the tongue and that she meant to say Daniel Pearl is also conjecture.

We are both parsing language here.

I also fully understand your lack of enthusiasm in pursuing the matter.

I have yet to decide if I will look into this further, myself.

The truth shall set us free. Love is the only way forward.

http://911blogger.com/node/13182

Food for thought. I still feel that they have killed Bin Laden so many times over that this latest with its lack of evidence and ridiculous story line is more damaging than the clip by Bhutto which is disputed to be a slip of the tongue. I also wouldn't put it past her to have been apprised she should not have made said statement and have acted as if it never occurred subsequently as well. So one must look at the big picture and come to conclusions on their own as to whom to trust.

[QueenB4Liberty]

Yeah I was wondering why the interviewer didn't correct her or question her about it.

[jmhudak17]

I have a problem with someone confusing the name Daniel Pearl with Osama Bin Laden. Not quite as easy as Obama- Osama slips.

My reasoning behind is that she had already been talking about Osama bin Laden earlier in the interview. She probably had him on her mind on that point. It still is a weird slip, but she's made it seem like she thinks Osama was alive in other interviews, so this would contradict everything else she was saying, especially in the Greta van Susteren interview. Also on the BBC edit, if it simply was a mistake, they might have edited it out to not confuse viewers.

[satchelmcqueen]

thanks. that clears the interview up for me now.

[Peace&Freedom]

Or, the reason why Bhutto's meaning is disputed is because she was under some pressure not to spill the beans over Osama's prior death, so she admitted it in an unclear fashion. Even this partial slip may have contributed to her being assassinated.

[jmhudak17]

Or, the reason why Bhutto's meaning is disputed is because she was under some pressure not to spill the beans over Osama's prior death, so she admitted it in an unclear fashion. Even this partial slip may have contributed to her being assassinated.

There was at least one assassination attempt before this interview. Her enemies wanted her dead. It wasn't because she said Osama bin Laden was murdered.