It appears that Pakistan has released a tape of an intercepted call of congratulations from a known Al Qaeda leader for the bombing. The information was consistent with the threats made earlier in the year by the same Al Qaeda operative…

(ISLAMABAD, Pakistan) – Pakistan’s government announced it had evidence that an al-Qaeda operative was behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, who was laid to rest Friday as the army tried to quell a frenzy of rioting that left 27 people dead less than two weeks before national elections. The government, led by President Pervez Musharraf, also said Bhutto was not killed by gunshots or shrapnel as originally claimed. Instead, it said her skull was shattered by the force of a suicide bomb blast that slammed her against a lever in her car’s sunroof. The new explanations by the government in the death of Bhutto, Musharraf’s most powerful foe in the elections, were part of a rapidly evolving political crisis. The rioting by Bhutto’s furious supporters raised concerns that this nuclear-armed nation, plagued by chaos and the growing threat from Islamic militants even before the killing, was in danger of spinning out of control… – Reuters and AP

The evidence released so far is not conclusive but it does appear to lend some credence to the possibility that al-Qaeda, or a splinter group, was indeed behind the planning and execution of the suicide bombing resulting in the death of Bhutto.

The government released a transcript Friday of a purported conversation between militant leader Baitullah Mehsud and another militant. "It was a spectacular job. They were very brave boys who killed her," Mehsud said, according to the transcript. The government did not release an audiotape. Cheema described Mehsud as an al-Qaida leader who was also behind most other recent terror attacks in Pakistan, including the Karachi bomb blast in October against Bhutto that killed more than 140 people. Mehsud is thought to be the commander of pro-Taliban forces in the tribal region of South Waziristan, where al-Qaida fighters are also active. In the transcript, Mehsud gives his location as Makin, a town in South Waziristan. This fall, he was quoted in a Pakistani newspaper as saying that he would welcome Bhutto’s return from exile with suicide bombers. Mehsud later denied that in statements to local television and newspaper reporters. Cheema announced the formation of two inquiries into Bhutto’s death, one to be carried out by a high court judge and another by security forces. Bhutto was assassinated Thursday evening after a rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near Islamabad. Twenty other people also died in the attack. On Thursday, authorities had said Bhutto died from bullet wounds fired by a young man who then blew himself up. A surgeon who treated her, however, said Friday she died from the impact of shrapnel on her skull. But later Friday, Cheema said those two accounts were mistaken. He said all three shots missed her as she greeted supporters through the sunroof of her vehicle, which was bulletproof and bombproof. – Reuters and AP

Actions will speak much louder than words. Musharaff must now CHOOSE !!! He must pull out all the stops and invade the terrorist strongholds regardless of the repercussions on his political future within the country or face the consequences of forceful “help” from the U.S. We suspect the State Department has put him on notice to pull out the stops or the U.S. perhaps will be pulling them out for him…

It appears that economic inflation may be the bigger threat to the Iranian president’s political future than any aggressive sanctions from the West. The Iranian people are clearly showing signs of lost patience with the silver tongued leader due to his lack of action on the economic front at home. A situation that is certainly being carefully watched by the U.S., E.U and Russia. It appears that Ahmadinejad was full of empty promises during his “electoral campaign”, and the Iranian middle class is fed up with it.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A sharp rise in inflation has provoked fierce criticism of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – not only from his reformist opponents, but also from senior conservatives who helped bring him to power but now say he is mismanaging the economy.

Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005 on a populist agenda promising to bring oil revenues to every family, eradicate poverty, improve living standards and tackle unemployment. Now he is being challenged for his failure to meet those promises.

Reformists and even some fellow conservatives say Ahmadinejad has concentrated too much on fiery, anti-U.S. speeches and not enough on the economy – and they have become more aggressive in calling him to account…

A prominent economist, Mohammad Sattarifar, said Ahmadinejad is to blame for flooding the market with too many newly printed bank notes, relying too much on imported goods – including basic commodities – and using oil revenues to pay for the government’s day-to-day expenses instead of distributing it to the people as he promised to do in his election campaign.

Sattarifar said the government increased liquidity, or the amount of money in circulation, from $72.3 billion in 2004 to $148.9 billion this year. Economist Morteza Allahdad said this amount was a “huge, unusual increase in liquidity that has led to high inflation. Ahmadinejad can’t escape responsibility for this.”… More… — AP / A. Dareini

For all the so called intelligence this bafoon believes he possess, he appears to be an ignoramus when it comes to managing internal fiscal policy. His idea of flooding the Iranian economy with cheap money has backfired just as experts within his own country had warned. Will “Basic Economics 101″ in fact prevail over cultural arrogance and islamo-fascist rhetoric?

In the end, perhaps this new economic reality may be just what the doctor ordered to infuriate the Iranian people into realizing that Ahmadinejad, and his perverted points of view, along with the neanderthal thinking of the radical Islamic clerics, will do little to lead their country toward prosperity on par with the other wealthy Arab oil nations. Unfortunately there do not appear to be many political alternatives on the horizon which the Iranian people can leverage regardless of how dissatisfied they are with their quality of life. Certainly not as long as their society is held hostage by a radicalized leadership.