Les Gelb

Les Gelb, the president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, thinks that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto is hugely significant for American national security, but not for domestic politics.

"It really is a big deal," said Gelb in a telephone interview. "I think it is a bigger deal, more dangerous for us than Iraq or Afghanistan because she [Bhutto] represented really the best chance that Pakistan had, and we had, of putting together a coalition government with the majority of Pakistani people against the extremists, and of a coalition government that had a chance of working."

"The fact of the matter is that if Pakistan goes south," he said, "it's far more dangerous for us than Iraq or Afghanistan."

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