She talks about women and extremism and the West applauds

0 Benazir Bhutto, a kleptocrat in a Hermes scarf02br
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00She's back. Hurrah! She's a woman. She's brave. She's a moderate. She speaks good English. She's Oxford-educated, 01b00no less02b00. And she's not bad looking either.02br
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01span00Question:02br
00 What does ''no less' mean?02span02br
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00I admit I'm biased. I don't like Benazir Bhutto. She called me names during her election campaign in 1996 and 01b00it left a bitter taste02b00. Petty personal grievances aside, I still find 01b00jubilant02b00 (=extremely happy and pleased because of a success) reports of her return to Pakistan depressing. Let's be clear about this before 01b00she's turned into a martyr02b00.02br
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01span00Questions:02span02br
01span001: I have problem in understanding the expression 01i00it left a bitter taste02i00. Saying 01i00it left a bitter taste on me about her02i00 makes much sense to me.02span02br
01span002: Don't you think some other should be used instead of 01i00jubilant02i00?02span02br
01span003: Why does the author say, ''before she's turned into a martyr''?02span02br
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00This is no Aung San Suu Kyi (=political leader of a pro-democratic party in Burma or Myanmar), despite her repeated insistence that she's "fighting for democracy", or even more incredibly, "fighting for Pakistan's poor".02br
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00This is the woman who was twice dismissed on corruption charges. She went into self-imposed exile while investigations continued into millions she had allegedly stashed away (=to store something secretly or safely somewhere) into Swiss bank accounts ($1.5 billion by the reckoning of Musharraf's own "National Accountability Bureau").02br
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00She has only been able to return because Musharraf, that megalomaniac (=someone who wants to have a lot of power), knows that his future depends on the grassroots (=basic, fundamental) diehard (someone who is very strong supporter of a person or idea) supporters inherited from her father's party, the PPP.02br
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00As a result, Musharraf, who in his first months in power declared it his express (=clear and definite) intention to wipe out corruption, has dropped all charges against her and granted her immunity from prosecution. Forever.02br
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00Notably, he did not do the same for his other political rival, Nawaz Sharif, who was recently deported after attempting his own spectacular return to Pakistan.02br
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00But the difference is that Benazir is a pro at playing to the West. And that's what counts. She talks about women and extremism and the West applauds. And then conspires.02br
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00The Americans and the British are acutely (=completely, extremely) aware that their strategy in the region is failing and that Musharraf's hold on power is ever more tenuous (=weak). They have pressed hard for Benazir and the General to cut a deal (=to make a deal) that would allow them to share power for the next five years in a "liberal forces government".02br
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00It's all totally bogus. Benazir may speak the language of liberalism and look good on Larry King's sofa, but both her terms in office were marked by incompetence, extra-judicial killings and brazen (=used to describe a person or the actions of a person who is not embarrassed about behaving in a wrong or immoral way) looting of the treasury, with the help of her husband — famously known in Pakistan as Mr 10 Per Cent.02br
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00In a country that tops the international corruption league, she was its most self-enriching leader.02br
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00Benazir has always cynically (=not caring that something might not be morally right, might hurt someone etc, when you are trying to get something for yourself)01b00 02b00used her gender to manipulate: I loved her answer to David Frost when he asked her how many millions she had in her Swiss bank accounts. "David, I think that's a very sexist question."02br
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00A non sequitur (=a statement which does not seem to be connected in a reasonable or sensible way with what was said before) (does loot have a gender?) but one that brought the uncomfortable line of questioning to a swift end.02br
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00Of all Pakistan's elected leaders she conspicuously did the least to help the cause of women. She never, for example, repealed the Hudood Ordinances, Pakistan's controversial laws that made no distinction between rape and adultery.02br
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00She preferred instead to kowtow (=to be too eager to obey or be polite to someone in authority) to the mullahs in order to cling to power, forming an expedient (=helping you to deal with a problem quickly and effectively although sometimes in a way that is not morally right) alliance with Pakistan's Religious Coalition Party and leaving Pakistan's women as powerless as she found them.02br
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00The problem is that the West never seems to learn; playing favourites in a complicated 01b00nation02b00's politics always backfires. Imposing Benazir on Pakistan is the opposite of democratic and doubtless will cause more chaos in an already unstable country.02br
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01span00Question:02span02br
01span00Does 01i00nation02i00 refer to Pakistani nation?02span02br
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00Make no mistake, Benazir may look the part (=to look like a typical person of a particular type, to perform well and seem likely to be successfu), but she's as ruthless and conniving (=conspiring)01b00 as they come02b00 — a kleptocrat (=someone who seeks chiefly status and personal gain at the expense of the governed) in a Hermes (=Paris based company which is famous for perfumes, leather goods, headscarfs etc) headscarf.02br
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01span00Question:02span02br
01span00What does 01i00as they come02i00 mean?02span00 0-