The Daily Beast published a column written by Fatima Bhutto, the late Benazir Bhutto’s niece. Contrary to what one might expect from Bhutto – who is, after all, also Asif Ali Zardari’s niece – she tells the West to “stop funding my failed state.”

In fact, Bhutto seems to be quite a critic of Zardari:

One thing moving ridiculously fast, however, is the Taliban’s stranglehold on the country. After two years of fighting off Taliban insurgents camped out in the lush Swat Valley, Pakistan’s president, Asif Zardari, threw in the towel last week and gave the militants what they wanted—Shariah law.

Never mind that Pakistan’s constitution stipulates that no law contrary to Islam can be passed in the land. The no-goodnik president, who The Wall Street Journal called a “Category 5 disaster,” went ahead and unilaterally—without a vote granted to the citizens of Swat—imposed Shariah. So perhaps it shouldn’t be considered a great surprise that a week after the law was passed, the Taliban, in typical breakneck speed, have now advanced into the Buner district, a mere 70 miles from the capital.

Meanwhile, President Obama is set to meet with President Zardari (who locals have now taken to calling President Ghadari, or “traitor” in Urdu) in 10 days’ time. There is, I’d imagine, much to discuss.

Family…

She adds:

The most important question that will come from Pakistan, however, is a familiar one: Can we have some more please? Money, that is, not Taliban. It may surprise some Americans that even in the midst of this recession, billions of their tax dollars are given directly to the thievery corporation that is Pakistan’s government, never to be seen again. George W. Bush gave Pakistan a whopping $10 billion to fight terror, money that seems to have gone down the drain—or rather, into some pretty deep pockets. And it’s not just the U.S.—last week, international donors from 30 countries met in Tokyo and pledged $5 billion to Pakistan to “fight terror.” The IMF has given the country $7.6 billion in a bailout deal that boggles the mind. Saudi Arabia has generously pledged $700 million over the next four years, and the less-generous European Union an additional $640 million over the same period. And then there’s Obama’s promise of $1.5 billion a year, dependent, the White House says, on results.

It’s phenomenally silly to give that kind of money to a president who, before becoming president, was facing corruption cases in Switzerland, Spain, and England. Zardari and his wife, the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, are estimated to have stolen upwards of $3 billion from the Pakistani Treasury—a figure Zardari doesn’t seem desperate to disprove, he placed his personal assets before becoming president at over $1 billion.

I know. Her honesty and directness shocked me as well.

Luckily, the Guardian explained last year that Benazir and Fatima did not get along very well when the former was still alive:

But Fatima says she has no political ambition and, at any rate, is unlikely to eclipse her famous cousin anytime soon. The reasons spring from a half-forgotten chapter of the Bhutto history. It is a story written in broken bloodlines that illuminate the Greek tragedy that this extraordinary South Asian dynasty has become.

To cut a long story short: Fatima’s father was killed in 1996. She and her mother believe that Benazir or her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, may have been responsible.

The above does not mean we should not take her serious, of course. Perhaps even to the contrary. She knows Zardari better than most, and she is absolutely right about his corruption and about the deal Pakistan struck with the Taliban – which has fired back tremendously.

We do have to wonder whether we can let Zardari’s government fall or whether we should support it for as long as possible. What will happen if Islamabad’s civilian government falls? Will the Taliban take over? Will Pakistan be divided? Or will the military intervene and ‘fix’ the country? We do not know – not acting is risky.