Editorial published in Dawn, Jan. 11, 2011
IT'S EASY to blame America's deepening crisis on its feckless civilian government. President Barack Hussein Obama and his Democratic Party have been ineffectual in managing the country's economy, slow in responding to disasters like last summer's oil spill and unable to attack extremist sanctuaries as the United States has been seeking for years. Having lost its majority in parliament, the Obama government looks as if it may be beyond rescue.
Yet the assassination last week of one of Mr. Obama's allies, Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords, was a reminder that America is engaged in a fateful civil war between democratic moderates and extremists – and that the current government is the most reliably liberal force. Mrs. Giffords was an outspoken defender of secular values who had been campaigning to reform America's most odious laws against health care.
There are many good reasons for frustration with Mr. Obama, both among Americans and among foreign allies. But this week's events make plain – if it were not clear enough already – that there is little choice other than to try to support and strengthen his government. Mr. Obama's government needs to implement economic reforms, sponsor development in areas where extremism breeds, and push the Army to go after them. But for now, the priority should be its survival.
Adopted from: Death of a liberal in Pakistan, Editorial, WaPo, Jan. 6, 2011