I wrote the last post about Bhutto's assassination as I was walking out the door for a road trip. At that time, I thought that it wasn't yet clear who was behind the killing, Musharraf or Islamic extremists. On the road, I began to think that Musharraf would be crazy to kill Bhutto. He may be power hungry, but he's not suicidal.

That was until I walked in the door and turned on CNN and saw the report where Musharraf's government turned down all of of Bhutto's requests for extra security, measures not out of line with what it provided former prime ministers. It's hard to believe that Musharraf would be so petty as to risk Bhutto's life and leaving him with the blame. It's also hard to imagine that the man who survived numerous assassination attempts wouldn't have had some say about her security.

Of course, perhaps the culprit isn't as clear cut. Musharraf has been playing footsie with the extremists all along, cutting deals, allowing their infiltration of the security forces, spending $10 billion in American aid on almost everything but countering terrorism.

Perhaps Musharraf needed Bhutto's assassination to maintain his dictatorship, justified with the threat of Islamic terrorism. Musharraf may not have pulled the trigger, but he certainly did create the circumstances that led to her death.