The professional widow serves a particular role in American life. Generally these women were the wives of prominent political figures who were assassinated or came to some sort of tragic end. The group includes Ethel Kennedy, widow of Bobby Kennedy; Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcom X; and Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King Jr. The circumstances of their stoic solitude confers on them a special status – the partners of martyred heroes. (more…)
Archive for December, 2009
The Professional Widower
Thursday, December 31st, 2009With Iran: Think before you speak
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
By John Kerry
The grass-roots protests that have engulfed Iran since its presidential election last week have grabbed America’s attention and captured headlines — unfortunately, so has the clamor from neoconservatives urging President Obama to denounce the voting as a sham and insert ourselves directly in Iran’s unrest.
No less a figure than Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, has denounced President Obama’s response as “tepid.” He has also claimed that “if we are steadfast eventually the Iranian people will prevail.”
Mr. McCain’s rhetoric, of course, would be cathartic for any American policy maker weary of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hostile message of division. We are all inspired by Iran’s peaceful demonstrations, the likes of which have not been seen there in three decades. (more…)
Ten Year Deception
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009By Sadiq Saleem
The purpose of this particular type of accountability was never to deal with the problem of corruption but to create hype about it. Hence, phrases like “Looti hui daulat qaum ko wapis kee jaye” (Return the looted wealth to the nation) are bandied about without dealing with the substantive legal issues.
The reason why former Ehtesab supremo, the notorious Saif-ur-Rehman, came up with the figure $1.5 billion as the amount “stolen” by Zardari was that it sounded good in propaganda. Otherwise his Ehtesab Bureau never really identified properties or initiated substantive cases that amounted to that value. The Supreme Court must ask the Ehtesab Bureau’s successor NAB why, if its claim of $1500 million in assets is correct, cases in international courts led to freezing of only $73 million ($60 million in Swiss courts and $13 million in the case of the Surrey Mansion in England).
Pakistan attack targets Shi’ites
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009By Omar Waraich
Pakistan was rocked on Monday, Dec. 28, by a vicious suicide bombing that killed at least 32 people and injured almost twice as many amid a major annual mourning procession of the country’s minority Shi’ites in the heart of Karachi, the largest city and commercial center in the nation. As the death toll mounts, the country’s political leaders have united in their condemnation of the attack. It was the third such assault in Karachi in as many days, crushing the city’s hopes of evading the current wave of bombings, deepening fears of further sectarian attacks and underscoring the militants’ deadly ability to strike seemingly anywhere at any time.
In chilling scenes, television footage captured the moment that the bomber struck. A tightly packed crowd, dressed in black and holding banners aloft, solemnly shuffled down one of Karachi’s main roads. (more…)
‘Democracy is the Greatest Revenge’
Monday, December 28th, 2009By Asif Ali Zardari
Two years ago the world stopped for me and for my children. Pakistan was shaken to its core and all but came apart. Women everywhere lost one of their greatest symbols of equality. And Islam, our great religion, lost its modern face.
On Dec. 27, 2007, my wife, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated. She was the bravest person I have ever known, and the second anniversary of her death is an appropriate occasion to reflect upon what she achieved for our country, and how her legacy must be preserved against those who would return Pakistan to darkness.
Twice elected prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir had an immense impact. She stood up and defeated the forces of military dictatorship. She freed all political prisoners. She ended press censorship. She legalized trade and student unions, built 46,000 primary and secondary schools and appointed the first female judges in our history. (more…)
A Remembrance of Benazir Bhutto
Saturday, December 26th, 2009By Mark Siegel
For those of us who knew and loved Benazir Bhutto, not just as a great political leader but as an irreplaceable friend, the days between Christmas and New Years can never ring with joyous holiday spirit and celebration. December 27th is a dreaded day on the calendar of the people of Pakistan, democrats all around the world, and the family and friends of Benazir Bhutto. It is a day of remembrance, reflection, and inevitable thinking of what could have been had she lived to govern Paksistan once again.
To so many she was an icon but to me she was a friend, a colleague, an intellectual sparring partner, an aunt to my children and a soul mate to my wife. On top of all the great things that she had done, and the endless possiblities of what she could have accomplished had she lived, I genuinely miss her on a personal level.
Pakistan as seen by a convert
Thursday, December 24th, 2009Click here for Convert Interview:
The National Public Radio – NPR Guest host Jacki Lyden speaks with Michael Muhammad Knight, author of the book “Journey to the End of Islam”. Knight, a Muslim convert, documents his travels through Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia as he tries to reconcile the many contradictions he finds in the diverse traditions of Islamic faith.
Humanity Amidst Insanity
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
Humanity amidst Insanity – co-authored by Tridivesh Singh Maini – an Indian journalist – and Tahir Malik and Ali Farooq Malik, two Pakistani jouralists.
The book published by UBS Delhi narrates some of the positive episodes during partition — i.e. instances where Muslims have rescued Non-Muslims and vice-versa — and is in interview form. Interviews were conducted in both India and Pakistan. Humanity amidst insanity is perhaps the first book which systematically highlights positive episodes during partition.
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The gravity of the problem
Thursday, December 24th, 2009Dr Manzur Ejaz
After we were settled, he asked me as to what was going on in Pakistan and if the military could eliminate the Taliban insurgency. I told him that I was reasonably optimistic that the military will prevail because it was their creation. In the past, the military was not confronting them sincerely because of their misplaced fairytale policy of getting strategic depth in Afghanistan. Now, the military has learnt the lesson as suicide bombings kill people near the capital of Islamabad. I further added that I hope investors like you can return to Pakistan, and ended my explanation with a smile.
“No, you are wrong here. I hope your optimism is realistic as far as the Taliban are concerned. But the Western investors are not going to return to Pakistan even then. Investors were avoiding Pakistan even before the Taliban threat and they will remain so even after the Taliban are gone. Pakistan has multiple problems that repulse the foreigners, whether they are investors or tourists,” he told me. (more…)
Fear and Loathing in Pakistan
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
By Michael Crowley – The New Republic
The US Embassy in Islamabad is a tense and embattled place. The embassy complex is fortress-like, sequestered in a secure area to the east of the city known as the “diplomatic enclave,” whose approaches are guarded by multiple security checkpoints. The compound’s outer perimeter is festooned with barbed wire and towering walls. Arriving vehicles are stopped for bomb-checks, sealed into a quarantined area with high walls on either side and heavy iron doors at front and back. Embassy visitors are required to wear visible badges at all times–and they are checked frequently.
This is understandable in a city where anti-Americanism is on the rise, despite Congress’s recent pledge of $7.5 billion in U.S. aid to Pakistan. (Indeed, that aid package, bizarrely enough, is part of the problem.) I heard one American (who does not work at the embassy) say that if he ever had a car accident in Islamabad, he would flee the scene if possible; the risks of being an American at in a place where a racuous crowd would inevitably gather are just too great. And when the entourage of staff and reporters traveling with Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mike Mullen arrived at a Pakistani Air Force base on Wednesday evening, we were subjected to a nearly hourlong delay, as every one of our bags was passed through an x-ray bomb detector for reasons that seemed more about harassment than security. (Who ever heard of screening the bags of people are getting off the plane?)
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