Friday, December 28, 2007
Current Events
I normally don't post in my blog about world events or about anything controversial. Plenty of opportunity out there for controversy and for finding out about world events. You don't need my blog for that.
But this time I'm going to do just that. I have been unusually shaken by the events in Pakistan the past two days. I mean, I have admired Benazir Bhutto because she so badly wanted to bring democracy to the middle east, because she took a hard line about the radicals in Northwest Pakistan on the Afghani border, and because in a culture where women are not often successful in the political arena, she was elected by popular vote TWENTY YEARS ago!
But I don't know that all of that would normally be enough to break through my emotions. Yet, I have been tearing up every time I see the stuff about her death on the news. I have to admit that I am a bit scared. I think that she was the best thing that could have happened to the Middle East. The whole question about democratic elections going on on schedule is tough ... do them on time and the party that will bring democracy to the country won't have a candidate. Postpone/cancel them, and the people who killed Bhutto get what they want. And the whole question of their nuclear weapons scares me, too. I can't put my finger on it ... but I have a very bad feeling about this situation....
I mentioned previously that I was pretty upset by that book, The Kite Runner. Well, I've been wanting to go see a movie today, and I thought it was too soon to see that movie, so I decided to see another one that I've wanted to see, Charlie Wilson's War. Dummy, me ... did I forget that I wanted to get away from the current events for a couple of hours?
It was interesting, though, how all of this ties together. The book helped me to put the time frame in perspective (Afghanistan as an independent nation doing well, then the Russian occupation, then the Taliban coming in). And it also helped me to put a face on the average Afghani ... beyond the girl with the green eyes of National Geographic fame. And the movie reminded me of the United States' roll, financially (and otherwise) in helping Afghanistan overcome the Russians and the long term implications of that aid that we gave them.
It was creepy, watching that movie today, because at one point the Julia Roberts character is introducing the then president of Pakistan, and she starts her introduction with "President Zia did not assassinate Bhutto." (Referring to Benazir Bhutto's father.) It was creepy ... knowing that they filmed the movie how long ago, not knowing that Benazir would be assassinated while the movie was running in the theaters.
One more creepy thing about the movie ... they used the music from "And He Shall Purify" from Handel's Messiah while the Afghani's were using the American purchased weapons to over take the country from the Russians. I'm still contemplating what the significance of using that song at that part of the movie was....
Well, I am not normally one who loses sleep over ANYthing at all. But this is keeping me up at night. I think that I'm going to go read my new book (about the Iditarod) until I fall asleep....
Offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:3)
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