what the bloggers say - slate - sonia smith

Roll video: Britain's Channel 4 has aired new footage of Benazir Bhutto's last moments—some are comparing it to the Zapruder film of the JFK assassination—that further calls into question

the Pakistani government's assertion that Bhutto died from hitting her head on the sunroof handle. Bloggers are turning into ballistics experts. (Video footage below from Channel 4.)

"Finally we get to see her react. Her head does jerk sharply to the right after the shots but whether that's a reflex in response to the sound or from the force of a bullet hitting her, I can't tell," analyzes conservative Allahpundit at Hot Air. "She does appear to be safely inside the car when the bomb goes off, though, and since no one else inside was killed by the force of it, it's hard to believe the shockwave did her in." And at Captain's Quarters, righty Ed Morrissey is convinced Bhutto was shot: "This puts to lie any notion that Bhutto did not die from the gunshots that can clearly be heard in this and other videos, just before the explosion. Her head jerks to the right as the hair and scarf rise, and then she falls into the car going sideways. After she falls completely back into the vehicle, the bomb explodes," he writes. "Musharraf has a huge credibility problem, and this video makes it crystal clear."

But conservative Confederate Yankee remains unsure if Bhutto was shot: "While the new film shows her hair and shawl moving, however, it is not conclusive. Unlike the Zapruder-filmed assassination (YouTube) of John F. Kennedy, however, there is not the spray of flesh and bone one might have expected from a pistol blast at near contact range of approximately six feet." Greg Pollowitz at the National Review's Media Blog concurs: "I've watched the video a few times now and I'm not sure it shows what Channel 4, CNN and MSNBC are insinuating it does. Bhutto seems to drop straight down in this video after the gunfire is heard. Bhutto supporters are claiming she was shot as many as three times. I would think that if she had been shot three times, the force of the bullets striking her would have caused her body to react differently than it did in the video."

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