Afghanistan comes out of obscurity to haunt us
By Jerry Burris
Advertiser Editorial Editor
On Sept. 11, 2001, The Advertiser carried a story about Afghanistan.
No, not that story. This was the morning final, printed before the attacks on New York and Washington. The Afghanistan story was a brief Asia-Pacific report on the assassination attempt on Ahmed Shah Masood, a leader of the "fractured coalition of groups" who opposed the ruling Taliban in that country.
Most readers probably glanced at the article and moved on; it obviously had little relevance to life in Hawai'i.
Far more newsworthy that day were reports about the bankruptcy filing of Crazy Shirts, Michael Jordan's rumored comeback and a mystery itch that was afflicting students at Makalapa Elementary.
My how things have changed.
For instance, what's the latest on those shark attack scares in Florida? Or Gary Condit? For that matter, where do we stand with the travails of Honolulu City Councilman Andy Mirikitani?
Gone, all gone.
We woke up that Tuesday morning quite interested that Sen. Daniel Inouye was opposed to a plan to permit reparations for former World War II prisoners of war.
Forget it. World War II is off the radar now. We have a new war to deal with.
In fact, even the upcoming commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor has suddenly been put into a very different context. The events at Pearl Harbor now seem somehow far more distant; yesterday's history. But at the same time, we are chillingly reminded why we commemorate that terrible event. It has become, for this generation, immediate and real.
With the benefit of hindsight, that small Afghanistan piece should have been far more prominent in our minds and in the news. We know now that the assassination attempt foreshadowed the terrible events that came next.
A good argument can be made that Americans should have been reading a great deal more about Afghanistan and the Middle East in general over the past several years. More awareness of the tensions and pressures in that region might not have prevented the attacks, of course, but it would have helped us understand and cope.
There's a small irony here. In the opinion-writing game, people sometimes used the sardonic term "Afghanistanism" to describe writing about subjects that are almost terminally irrelevant.
That is, editorial writers go on sonorously about events in Afghanistan or other remote corners of the world while they ignore the important news at home.
Well, you can put that particular term to rest.
But what is the next Afghanistan? Where will the next world-changing news come from when we're not watching? There's political unrest in the former Soviet state of Georgia, economic deterioration in Japan, signs that Muslim rebels in the Philippines may be ready to surrender and fighting in Kashmir.
Should we care?
We'd better.
Reach Jerry Burris through letters@honoluluadvertiser.com.
