First off, let me make a wish for all of you to have a peaceful New Year.
After the tragic, but not surprising news that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated this past week, it got me pondering a bit.
A few of the things I pondered were the following:
Was her assassination inevitable?
Could this be a turning point like the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
Who could have done it?
Is Peace an obtainable goal?…

Now…why do I say this was inevitable?
Bhutto’s life could only have gone 2-ways if she wanted to continue to pursue her goals for her party. One way would have been for her to triumph against those who wanted to defeat her pursuit of democracy, and the other was what happened, as she continued to defy her opponents in a very public way.

As far as I can see it, there is no “middle-ground”.

Could this ignite into something bigger, resembling the event that started WWI after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand?
Dunno. The future, like history, always has a way of making a sharp left-turn when you least expect it. The Rule of Unintended Consequences sees to that. Depending on why and who is responsible for her death (or not, reason has little to do with things), this could go just about any which way.

Who could have done it?
Anybody. She was a public-figure and had a lot of opposition. The list includes (but is not limited to) the following:
A lone radical.
Her enemies.
Her friends.
The opposing political party.
Her political party.
A local government.
A foreign government.

As you can see, the list could be endless.

Is Peace an obtainable goal?
I hope so.
Having worked in Corporate life for a long time, and extrapolating what I saw there, as a microcosm of the world, makes you wonder if peace is really an obtainable goal. The last place I worked was a wonder of integration. We had exceptionally skilled people from all over the world. The work they did together was incredible, but you also saw every matter of disagreement imaginable. Not violent or anything, but you could see how quickly a minor point could escalate.
Everybody wants peace, they just can’t agree on what kind of peace they want.
Does that mean we should all stop working towards the goal of a peaceful world? Never.

Bhutto’s death adds to the list of people who were stopped short while seeking a peaceful world, these include: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Ghandi. Robert Kennedy, Thich Quang Duc and, obviously, more. Hopefully, though they were stopped short, their life’s work ended up advancing the cause of peace.
Some famous quotes about mankind include:

“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer…” Don Corleone via Michael Corleone in The Godfather Trilogy

“I love Mankind, it’s People I can’t stand!” Linus Von Pelt in Peanuts

“I have met the enemy and he is us!” Pogo.

In the end, there’s nothing else to do but to keep trying to advance the cause of peace and freedom and to try and protect us from ourselves.

Just some pondering on peace after a very tragic event.

So, in the end, let me get back to where I started and wish upon you a Peaceful New Year and hopefully a happy one too.