Analysis: For Washington, Bhutto's loss is incalcuable

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Thursday December 27, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

"The Bush administration today confronted one of its worst nightmares of the post-9/11 age: violent riots in the streets of a nuclear-armed and Muslim nation, and no clear strategy to chart its way out of the chaos.

For Washington, the enormity of Benazir Bhutto's loss is almost incalculable. Her assassination robs the Bush administration of an important ally in Pakistan just days before scheduled elections that were supposed to return the country to civilian rule and, Washington had hoped, greater stability and a more vigorous front against Islamist extremism......"