Pakistani Prez Admires Palin, i.e. The Role of Flirting in Diplomacy

A recent widower, his wife assassinated, the new President of Pakistan apparantly is an admirer of Gov. Palin.

"You are more gorgeous than you are on [television]," he told Palin after she declared that she was honored to meet him. "Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you," Zardari added, flashing his trademark teeth-baring smile. (From TIME magazine. Click on title of post to see full article.)

It seems Pakistani feminists are outraged. But really, is it so bad? He was flirting with a potential U.S. leader. So what? As women enter the field of world leadership, isn't flirtation part of the communication repertoire? I think it should be.

I can see my husband saying something like this. He says things like this to every woman that moves, especially the old ones. And they love it. "O-o-ohh!" they squeal with delight, clap their hands, and even jump up and down. When we shop in upper northwest DC, he goes up to obvious 40-something women with babies and says, "the au pairs are getting younger and younger every year" and - without fail - they giggle and say "I'm the mother!"

So a little flirting to grease the wheels of international relationships isn't a bad thing at all. Didn't Thatcher and Pinochet have a little thing going on like that? Maybe not the best example, but you get the point.

Bhutto Backlash

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto surprised me, although I can't think why that would be the case. The terrorists dominating the Northwest Province in Pakistan have been promising to kill her for a long time.

What al Qaida may have done, instead of eliminating a political enemy, is to create an invincible foe. A dead person can't say something stupid. A dead person can't make political miscalculations. A dead person can't get caught stealing or cheating. Benazir Bhutto has become a flawless symbol of the desire for democracy.

What Pakistan is looking at now is the unifying effect of Bhutto's assassination on the entire country. Knowing this, the purpose of postponing elections would be the hope that time would erode some of this effect. Let's hope they don't. It would be better to forge a new government when some unity can be fashioned out of this terrible event.

Girl Lost in Poker Bet

Another appalling example of how women are treated in Pakistan. A girl's father promised her instead of money when he lost a poker game. And those tribal elders are, of course, telling the family that they have to give the girl over.

Now the father is long dead and the winner of the bet, her uncle, wants to force the girl to marry his son. Reuters published a photo of the 17-year-old crying. It's really sad. She should be laughing at these idiots instead. Like, "What? Marry that joker! Ha!" The fact that she is instead crying shows how real the chances are of her getting handed over.

India and Pakistan and Peace

Isn't it great when two major powers in Eurasia decide that they are going to have peace whether the crazies want it or not? That's what India and Pakistan did when they decided to proceed with peace talks despite the recent train bombings.

The implication is that peace will bring united interests, both economic and political. As a unified block, Indo-Pak will have much more power on the global stage. They are smart people and know that. But the Putin reference to India, and what Econo-Girl calls Indo-Pak, is a little misguided. The interests of Russia are not the same as Brazil and Indo-Pak and China. The share stunning growth and that's it.