If there is one unmistakable conclusion that can be drawn from reading the Benazir Bhutto commission report, it is this: Ms. Bhutto was left at the mercy of her killers.

Who the masterminds of her death are is uncertain. The report simply notes: “Ms Bhutto faced serious threats in Pakistan from a number of sources; these included Al Qaeda, the Taliban and local jihadi groups, and potentially from elements in the Pakistani establishment.” Why any of those groups may have wanted to kill can be speculated about endlessly. But this much is clear: her tragic death was completely avoidable. To even the untrained eye, the security provided to Ms Bhutto was terribly, wretchedly inadequate. Pakistan knows how to protect its VVIPs when it wants to: ask Gen Musharraf or his top generals or his favorite politicians; on his watch, they were as safe as safe can be. But Ms. Bhutto was given none of the protection that, among all the pretenders and jesters who received it, she alone deserved to have been given.
The exact language of the report bears being repeated, for it points to the presence of, in its purest and most real manifestation, an evil intention: “Particularly inexcusable was the government’s failure to direct provincial authorities to provide Ms Bhutto the same stringent and specific security measures it ordered on 22 October 2007 for two other former prime ministers who belonged to the main political party supporting General Musharraf. This discriminatory treatment is profoundly troubling given the devastating attempt on her life only three days earlier and the specific threats against her which were being tracked by the ISI.”
Ms Bhutto could and should have survived the Dec 27, 2007 attack; she didn’t because of the monumental, and very deliberate, sin of omission on the part of Gen Musharraf & Co. Where was the security she deserved and the Pakistani state had the proven capability to offer?
The whys can be debated endlessly. Perhaps a clue may lie in new revelations about the ‘deal’ between Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf whereby the former prime minister was allowed to return to Pakistan. The UN report notes: “While their discussions included the issue of an eventual power-sharing arrangement, the final terms were never agreed.” Perhaps Gen Musharraf, fighting for survival in the bare-knuckled politics, thought Ms Bhutto’s safety could be a bargaining chip in their negotiations characterized by extreme mutual suspicion. With Gen Musharraf now in self-imposed exile, the country is unlikely to ever learn the truth. But the country will always know this: Ms. Bhutto’s killers succeeded because the government deliberately failed to protect her