December 31, 2007
Bhutto Assassination Weapon ID'd?
On December 27, Pakistani police recovered a pistol from the scene of Benazir Bhutto's assassination in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
I tweaked the low-res version in PhotoShop, rotated it 90 degrees, and played with the color balance to provide better contrast. Here is the modified, rotated photo, inset into the original.
I emailed that "green" photo this morning to Confederate Yankee commenter "karlJ," who has worked in the region as a contract medic, who thinks it could be a Steyr M 9mm pistol.
Based upon the shape and angle of the grip and the angled rear of the slide (which makes it distinct from similar polymer-framed Glock, Springfield XD and M&P pistols), I think that "karlJ" is probably correct.
Barack Obama has yet to link the pistol to Hillary Clinton's vote on the Iraq War.
Update:
Photo editor William G.S. Smith, seems to think that the ID of the assassination weapon as a Steyr M is positive, and sends along this comparison.
01/02 Update: Hey, Nuts. The truthers at whatreallyhappened.com have linked to this post to float the theory that the shooter was Pakistani special forces:
Now guess who uses the Steyr M 9X19mm handgun exclusively - the Pakistani army - special forces division.
An interesting theory... and completely divorced from reality.
I can find zero evidence that the Steyr M has been purchased by any branch of the Pakistani military in an online search... not so much as a single pistol. Pakistani police units bought a limited number of the old Steyr GB pistol in years past, but there is no confusing the two handguns, and the folks at whatreallyhappened.com apparently just decided just to make up a story about the M being "exclusive" Pakistani Army SF issue to float a witless conspiracy theory... shocking, I know.
there is no evidence that any bullets hit bhutto.
the video shows no blood, and it shows her moving her arm VOLUNTARILY, up and back as if to voluntarily move back into the vehicle.
she does not slump-down.
the scarf is not moved by a bullet.
if she'd been hit then she'd have slumped and there'd be blood on the scarf and a splatter we;d see - as from JFK in the zapruder film.
the movement of her arm is dispositive to me.
rewatch the video.
let your eyes do the thinking and not the msm.
Does that use square backed rounds?
On a serious note, is the Steyr a standard sidearm for the Army, police or security teams over there? I checked Wiki, and all I found was that the Army uses Steyr rifles for sniper duty.
Posted by: doubleplusundead at December 31, 2007 02:58 PMPistol bullets do not cause the dramatic sort of damage you saw in the Zapruder film except in movies. People do not always immediately slump when hit, even in the head. There is frequently not even enough blood immediately visible from the outside for the shooter to know he was making hits.
The incident took just a second or two between impact and her being pulled into the car. Having seen many gunshots over my career, foreign and domestic, the fact that there is no immediately visible blood or instant incapacitation is no evidence the victim wasn't shot.
I make no claims beyond that.
I have never seen a Steyr pistol over there, but that doesn't mean anything as everything is available to any organization with the money.
Posted by: karlJ at December 31, 2007 04:18 PMI checked with Beauchamp and TNR and was told that their anonymous sources were "absolutely positive" that the Steyr uses "square cartridges" and "square barrel" and is "exclusively carried by Pakistan Army Special Forces".
I have been told that TNR has "damning and inside information on the assasination" and will be running a special piece on it in their next issue. TNR also believes that "the issue will be so damning to the Pakistani President and informative on what is 'really' happening in Pakistan, that all 6 of their readers will buy a copy."
Posted by: WB at December 31, 2007 10:59 PMHere is the link to the initial picture of the gun reported by Geo TV:
http://www.humsurfer.com/view/image-of-the-gun-that-killed-benazir-bhutto
Related story is here: http://www.humsurfer.com/view/image-of-the-gun-that-killed-benazir-bhutto
Hope this helps.
Thanks
Abid Jan
