Social Commentary: Where is the Sanity?

Spreading fully across the top of two pages of this Saturday's (3/5/11) NY Times main section read three headlines: Egypt's New Premiere Affirms Voice of the People With a Visit to a Protest Site, Slain Cabinet Minister Is Buried in Pakistan, and Suspect Said To Have Shot U.S. Airmen For Revenge. With these three headlines and corresponding stories, the extreme challenges and exhilarating possibilities of the future of the Middle East and, perhaps the world, are laid before us.

In a revolt unprecedented in the region, the Egyptian people, largely peacefully, overthrew a corrupt government and deposed it's despotic leader, Hosni Mubarak. There were concerns in the aftermath of the revolution of who would fill the power vacuum left by Mubarak's departure. The worst case scenario was for it to be filled by Islamic extremists who would lead Egypt down the path to radical Islam. So, far, as evidenced by the first headline, this has not happened. In a visit to Tahrir Square on Friday, Egypt's new Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf, told a raucous, flag waiving crowd, I am here to draw my legitimacy from you. You are the ones to whom legitimacy belongs. The symbolism was not lost that the first stop of the new prime minister was to the place where his predecessor was disposed by the people who now carried him on their shoulders through the crowd of tens of thousands in the square. Egypt, the Arab world's largest country now represents the hope for a brighter, more democratic future for the Middle East. Certainly, the challenges are many and the risks are great. But, so far, the Egyptian people have shown a resiliency that provides a beacon of light for the entire region.

However, the challenges remaining in much of the rest of the Islamic world remain daunting. Shabaz Bhatti, a Christian cabinet minister in Pakistan, was assassinated this week and buried on Friday. Ironically, he was buried in his home village, Khush Pur, which has a particular tradition of fighting for religious tolerance. As a Christian moderate in a country dominated by Islamic radicals, Mr. Bhatti lived in constant danger. It is believed that he was murdered by extremists acting on information provided by Mr. Batti's own security detail. As I have detailed in this blog, this is not the first time a moderate voice in Pakistan was betrayed and silenced by fanatical Muslim assassins. It once again demonstrates the huge chasm between the reason of tolerance and the insanity of radicalism.

In Frankfurt, Germany a young (21), German of Kosovarian/Muslim decent murdered two American servicemen and wounded two others. Arid Uka told investigators that he was incensed by America's involvement in Afghanistan. His anger become more focused by watching Internet videos of radical clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki who exhort young men to violence through jihad. When Uka encountered the bus of American soldiers soon to be deployed to Afghanistan, he wanted to kill them all. If his gun had not jammed, he may have. Now, three more lives are over; the two young men that he murdered and his own.

At Mr. Bhatti's funeral in Khush Pur, Farhatullah Babar, the spokesman for Pakistan's President said of Mr. Bhatti: We talked heart to heart a few days before he died. He asked: "What should I do?" I told him: "You are a sane voice. You must continue."

Where is sanity now.

photo: F LoBuono