A young girl was shot in Pakistan by the Talibans. Her only sin was to be an education activist for women. Malala Youstafzai became an object of rage and vengeance in the realm of the cavemen who rule de facto in the Swat valley or Helmand in Afghanistan . Pakistan plays aggrieved, while the madrases continue to brainwash children who grow up with a worldview loaded with hangings, honour killings and prussic acid. I don't understand how Pakistani women still dare to represent this hell on earth as foreign minister or ambassador to Washington D.C. Do they have any decency or shame? Meanwhile Imran Khan will have some words of sympathy and switch as fast as he can to drones talk and to the ugly Americans. The Pakistani exodus in London and elsewhere will continue to get high on booze and nail polish, unconcerned.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are today what the black areas were on the maps of the 1980s, god forgotten places, hearts of darkness where the gropers and thieves could fill their pockets and kill unabated. I bet you that the Talibans are getting ready for a second round, once the NATO forces leave. Their perverse cosmology does not tolerate a passing star like Malala. As soon as the Americans put an end to their absurd Afghan involvement, the beast will be back. It is almost laughable to see some girls playing soccer for CNN and to hear how much has changed since the start of the war. The Talibans, who do not appear to be the viewers of Comedy Central, might even have a chuckle when seeing the gullibility of the West. The likes of politician-former cricketer-toast of Mayfair-Imran Khan will shed some crocodile tears and regroup under the umbrella of collective indignation because of the drones or poor Osama who had his summer quarters next to the Pakistani Intelligence Centre--speaking of coincidences! Together with Pakistan's tribal bent, Afghanistan is the other half of the twins from the dark ages which is equally better left alone.There is no room for embarrassment in intelligent assessment. The Americans realize that this was a hopeless case from the start and have stopped denying. Packing is the only way out. Too bad for the few enlightened individuals who saw from the beginning the ominous signs on the wall!
The tragedy is that we speak about people we know nothing about and who deserve respect while lacking introspection to collectively cut the head of the snake. The collusion between extremist ideology, corruption and drugs is creating a nightmarish monster, a toxic sum of Al Qaeda, the Haqqani and the Talibans. Some see in this latest tragic event a possible game changer. I do not. Hard line clerics will not move a finger and the situation will remain unchangd. In the end outrage will, as usual, be replaced by inaction seconded by collusion. This is a "culture" of martyrs. There is no room for saints. So Malala Yousazai,still an intended victim, had to go to make room for Imran Khan & Co's motorcades who criscross the country not for the good but for the worse. We should be humanitarians still, but otherwise we are better off with this nightmare out of our minds and illusions stored for better ends. Malala and the many women flogged, mutilated and raped have showed the world that even in hell there might still be light. We should return to what we do best: being a soft power. Hardliners fear seduction and enlightenment.
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