It takes a nation to protect the nation
Benazir Bhutto killed in attack
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Ms Bhutto - the first woman PM in an Islamic state - was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi when a gunman shot her in the neck and set off a bomb. At least 20 other people died in the attack and several more were injured. President Pervez Musharraf has urged people to remain calm but angry protests have gripped some cities, with at least 11 deaths reported. Security forces have been placed on a state of "red alert" nationwide. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack. Analysts believe Islamist militants to be the most likely group behind it. Ms Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), had served as prime minister from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996, and had been campaigning ahead of elections due on 8 January.
It was the second suicide attack against her in recent months and came amid a wave of bombings targeting security and government officials. Nawaz Sharif, also a former prime minister and a political rival, announced his Muslim League party would boycott the elections. He called on President Musharraf to resign, saying free and fair elections were not possible under his rule. The United Nations Security Council held an emergency session and later said it "unanimously condemned" the assassination. Scene of grief Ms Bhutto's coffin was removed from hospital in Rawalpindi and has now arrived by plane in Sukkur in Sindh province for burial in her home town, Larkana.
Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, has arrived in Pakistan from Dubai to escort the coffin to its final resting-place. The attack occurred close to an entrance gate of the city park where Ms Bhutto had been speaking. Police confirmed reports Ms Bhutto had been shot in the neck and chest before the gunman blew himself up. She died at 1816 (1316 GMT), said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of the PPP who was at hospital.
Some supporters at the hospital wept while others broke into anger, throwing stones at cars and breaking windows. Protests erupted in other cities as news of the assassination spread, with reports of 11 deaths in the PPP's heartland province of Sindh, including four in provincial capital, Karachi. More than 100 cars were burned in Karachi, while cars and a train were reportedly set on fire in Hyderabad. In other violence:
'Security lapse' Mr Musharraf has announced three days of national mourning. All schools, colleges, universities, banks and government offices will remain closed.
Mr Sharif said there had been a "serious lapse in security" by the government. Earlier on Thursday, at least four people were killed ahead of an election rally Mr Sharif had been preparing to attend close to Rawalpindi. Ms Bhutto's death has plunged the PPP into confusion and raises questions about whether January elections will go ahead as planned, the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says. The killing was condemned by India, the US, the UK and others. US President George W Bush telephoned Mr Musharraf for what the White House would only describe as a "brief" conversation on the situation.
Ms Bhutto returned from self-imposed exile in October after years out of Pakistan where she had faced corruption charges. Her return was the result of a power-sharing agreement with President Musharraf He had granted an amnesty that covered the court cases she was facing. But relations with Mr Musharraf soon broke down. On the day of her arrival, she had led a motor cavalcade through the city of Karachi. It was hit by a double suicide attack that left some 130 dead. Rawalpindi, the nerve centre of Pakistan's military, is seen as one of the country's most secure cities. Many analysts say attacks like those on Thursday show the creeping "Talebanisation" of Pakistan. Radical Muslims calling for Islamic law, and fiercely opposed to the US, have become increasingly active in Pakistani politics in recent years, analysts say.
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Tags: -, Benazir, Bhutto, Minister:, Prime, Rawalpindi, assassinated, former, in
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Most Western societies are based on Secular Democracy, which itself is based on the concept that the open marketplace of ideas leads to the optimum government. Whilst that model has been very successful, it has defects. The 4 Freedoms address 4 of the principal vulnerabilities, and gives corrections to them.
At the moment, one of the main actors exploiting these defects, is Islam, so this site pays particular attention to that threat.
Islam, operating at the micro and macro levels, is unstoppable by individuals, hence: "It takes a nation to protect the nation". There is not enough time to fight all its attacks, nor to read them nor even to record them. So the members of 4F try to curate a representative subset of these events.
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We hope that free nations will wake up to stop the threat, and force the separation of (Islamic) Church and State. This will also allow moderate Muslims to escape from their totalitarian political system.
These 4 freedoms are designed to close 4 vulnerabilities in Secular Democracy, by making them SP or Self-Protecting (see Hobbes's first law of nature). But Democracy also requires - in addition to the standard divisions of Executive, Legislature & Judiciary - a fourth body, Protector of the Open Society (POS), to monitor all its vulnerabilities (see also Popper).
1. SP Freedom of Speech
Any speech is allowed - except that advocating the end of these freedoms
2. SP Freedom of Election
Any party is allowed - except one advocating the end of these freedoms
3. SP Freedom from Voter Importation
Immigration is allowed - except where that changes the political demography (this is electoral fraud)
4. SP Freedom from Debt
The Central Bank is allowed to create debt - except where that debt burden can pass across a generation (25 years).
An additional Freedom from Religion is deducible if the law is applied equally to everyone:
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