It was supposed to be an approval ratings-boosting photo-op with the youngest ever nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize, but as any parent knows kids can be hard to control. They have a tendency to blurt out inconvenient truths at the most inconvenient of moments.
So it was when 16 year old Malala Yousafzai, who had been shot by extremists in Pakistan over her vocal support for girls’ education, was at the White House on Friday to meet the president and first lady along with their daughter of similar age.
The young Peace Prize nominee (who ultimately lost out to the UN-affiliated Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons), took the opportunity, while the world’s attention was upon her for her brave and fearless efforts, to tell the US president directly that his foreign policy was harming both her home country, Pakistan, and harming US security as well.
Said young Malala in a statement after the meeting:
I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people.
She could have played it safe and simply smiled for the camera. Instead she took another huge personal risk for peace. She told the president of the US that he was wrong to make war on her country. Bravo!
Considering past Nobel Peace Prize winners, it is probably better that she did not win. The prize is tarnished.
