Eliza Griswold's "In the Hiding Zone" in the July 26th issue of The New Yorker is yet another first-rate news feature in that weekly dealing with the "War on Terrorism". It's a detailed, first-hand account of the current state of affairs in Northwestern Pakistan along the Afghan-Pakistani border. It's eight pages are sobering. The level of distrust of outsiders in the area is clearly immense, the Pakistani military and political situation is enough to keep you up at night, and the degree to which all sides in the conflict act for monetary gain is unsettling (since such payments often involve mass murder or heroin sales).
But while it's disturbing, it's a well-written piece that reminds us of some things we need to always remember when considering American foreign policy practices and priorities. The Western world his deeply feared by large numbers of people who see it as a threat to their society's existence. Many countries in the world are weak states that cannot control what goes on inside their borders. And Pakistan remains a nuclear-armed powder-keg that could explode at any time. Like it or not, this is today's reality.
Posted by armand at July 24, 2004 04:27 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Politics