Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Dealing with the aftermath: “The Bush administration scrambled Thursday to deal with the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto after having invested significant diplomatic capital in promoting reconciliation between her and President Pervez Musharraf. President Bush, speaking briefly to reporters at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, urged that her murder not derail nascent efforts to restore democratic rule ahead of parliamentary elections set for next month. And he demanded that those responsible for the killing be brought to justice.”
* Who will succeed Bhutto? “Try as Nawaz Sharif might to carry the banner of Benazir Bhutto, he might not be the optimal anti-Musharraf candidate. For one thing, even if Musharraf holds a promised election, Sharif isn’t eligible to run, thanks to a ruling of the Musharraf-controlled Electoral Commission. For another, there’s another secular, democratic politician waiting in the wings who might resonate with this year’s middle-class rejection of Musharraf. Ex-Bhutto aide Husain Haqqani says he expects Aitzaz Ahsan to ascend to the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party, the party first led by Bhutto’s father.”
* This does not appear to be an uncommon sentiment: “It’s not just Bhutto adviser Husain Haqqani. Nawaz Sharif, now Pervez Musharraf’s chief political enemy in the wake of Bhutto’s assassination, also blamed the dictator for his onetime rival’s death. The Hindustan Times: ‘Pervez Musharraf is responsible and accountable for what happened today,’ Sharif told a private news channel in an interview. ‘I hold his policies responsible for landing this country into the terrible mess,’ a shaken Sharif said.”
* Another milestone: “As of Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2007, at least 3,900 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.” No word on whether the White House considers this “just a number.”
* As for the financial costs: The latest estimate of the growing costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worldwide battle against terrorism — nearly $15 billion a month — came last week from one of the Senate’s leading proponents of a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq. ‘This cost of this war is approaching $15 billion a month, with the Army spending $4.2 billion of that every month,’ Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska), the ranking Republican on the Appropriations defense subcommittee, said in a little-noticed floor speech Dec. 18…. ‘Stevens is being realistic,’ said Gordon Adams, who served as the senior national security official at the Office of Management and Budget from 1993 to 1997, in the Clinton administration.”
* The Senate’s pro-forma sessions really are making an important difference: “A nine-second session gaveled in and out by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., prevented Bush from appointing as an assistant attorney general a nominee roundly rejected by majority Democrats. Without the pro forma session, the Senate would be technically adjourned, allowing the president to install officials without Senate confirmation. […] Democrats wanted to block one such recess appointment in particular: Steven Bradbury, acting chief of the Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Counsel. Bush nominated Bradbury for the job and asked the Senate to remove the ‘acting’ in his title. Democrats would have none of it, complaining Bradbury had signed two secret memos in 2005 saying it was OK for the CIA to use harsh interrogation techniques — some call it torture — on terrorism detainees.”
* A helpful reminder for candidates who might be confused about today’s events: “To all the presidential campaigns trying to claim that the atrocity in Pakistan somehow proves that they have the right candidate — please stop. This isn’t about you; in fact, as far as I can tell, it isn’t about America. It’s about the fact that Pakistan is a very messed-up place. This has very bad consequences for us, but it’s hard to see what, if anything, it says about US policy. ”
* It’s the economy (in Iran), stupid: “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.”
* And finally, Bush hasn’t managed the economy well, but one business is flourishing thanks to his “leadership”: “Polls may show George W. Bush as the most unpopular president in modern history, but a different kind of measurement shows he’s the most popular president ever for selling calendars. As the Bush presidency winds down, the Bush Out of Office Countdown 2008 desk calendar ($11.99) is winding up as the No. 2 humor calendar (behind The Far Side Scared Silly 2008 Wall Calendar) for the new year, according to Calendars.com, the largest purveyor of calendars online and at retail kiosks. ‘They’re edgy and a way to mark the days, so it’s a perfect tie-in,’ says Hillel Levin, general manager at Calendars.com. ‘The intensity of dislike (for Bush) is driving these sales.'”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.