EXCELLENT news to start your Friday

[WilliamPitt]

Pakistani Girl Shot by Taliban Is Showing Progress

Malal Yousafzai is able to write and stand with help, said officials at the British hospital where she is being treated.

Read: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/20/world/europe/pakistani-schoolgirl-shot-by-taliban-showing-progress.html?hp



Amazing.

[porphyrian]

1. Yes! n/t

[porphyrian]

49. ...for the Saturday morning crowd... n/t

[madaboutharry]

2. That is so wonderful.

I hope she can thrive in a new life away from Pakistan.

[Lucinda]

3. Yes, it is!

Thanks.

[Control-Z]

4. Wonderful!!

Thank you for posting this. It is EXCELLENT news!!

[proud patriot]

5. she holds th hope of the world

[hue]

6. What beautiful news!! I'm so thankful She is in the UK & hope Her Family is safe also!!

[hoosierlib]

7. Political asylum

Any word if any country is offering political asylum? If not we need to...

[tk2kewl]

8. fuck yeah!

[niyad]

9. you are right--most excellent news

[nolabear]

10. Boy she and Gabby Giffords could relate, eh?

I hope she recovers fully. What a world.

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. It is even more impressive with Giffords

The young recover faster and further.

[sarge43]

11. For Malal

From the Qu'ran: Save those who believe and do good works, and oft remember God

And who defend themselves when unjustly treated. But they who treat them unjustly shall find out what a lot awaiteth them hereafter.

Be well.

[mainer]

12. If she can write, she will be fine.

She truly is going to be the world's spokeswoman for girls everywhere.

[FailureToCommunicate]

13. Huge thanks must go to the medical teams attending her! Amazing outcome for

what started as a horrible evil attack on a school bus...targeting a girl to be killed for simply speaking her mind.

If only ALL the innocent victims of violence in that part of the world could receive such expert care as Malala has.

Thanks, WP, for a bright bit of news.

[hogwyld]

18. But I thought

That the socialized British health care system was inferior to our for profit system. I'm really happy that she's doing better, and that this shines a light on what is possible when everyone has the proper care.

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. Don't forget the Pakistani teams

[BlueStreak]

14. How is such a thing posible, what with all that socialized medicine?

[Astrad]

15. And what about those three children

killed in the NATO airstrike on Monday. How they doing?

It's fantastic she's showing signs of improvement. Just wish we were as outraged about the NATO crime as we are about hers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/world/asia/3-children-die-in-afghan-strike-by-nato-led-coalition.html?_r=0

[magical thyme]

25. NATO isn't deliberately targeting children for murder

I don't think anybody on this board lacks outrage about the illegal and immoral wars that W started in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the terrible loss of innocent life that has resulted from them.

President Obama didn't start those wars; he took them on his shoulders. He has done what he can to stabilize the countries that W destroyed, so that we can leave responsibly.

In an ideal world, 911 would have been a wake up call instead of a call to war.

In a fantasy world, we could just pack our bags and leave.

In the real world, the sorry fact is that the west started screwing over the ME a long, long time ago. Before President Obama was born. Before many of us were born. That is our inherited bad karma and you can't walk away from karma.

Unfortunately for us, W added exponentially to our bad karma. All we can do now is try to dial it back a day at a time.

[Astrad]

37. I can agree with your perspective

as long as you can assure me that if your child was collateral damage in a drone strike to kill 'militants' you would continue to hold it.

[magical thyme]

40. why do you base your beliefs on my beliefs in hypothetical situations?

Sorry, but your statement makes no sense.

The loss of civilians in any war is tragic. Children all the more so. I don't think anybody on DU doesn't believe that.

[Astrad]

43. You're right

I expressed that poorly. What I was trying to say is that we pursue a security policy that we know will collaterally kill children and other innocents from time to time. Would we agree with that policy if it were our own loved ones at risk? I tend to doubt it. We do it because they're faceless children in a far away land. They have few if any advocates here. I don't find the distinction between the Taliban's barbarism and our own as stark as many seem to. And at least there have been arrests in Pakistan of the suspected killers whereas no one will ever face any court for the killing of those three children.

[magical thyme]

44. I don't agree with what we are doing. But I don't know what else we can do at this point.

And that is my point. I have vague memories of the disaster of leaving Vietnam. We have decades worth of horrible policies in the ME. It would be wonderful to erase all that, or at least to just walk away, but that would be incredibly irresponsible and long term make things worse.

I don't think anybody here 'agrees 'with our current security policies. I think we accept them because they are the best we can do at this point in time. I don't think President Obama or Vice President Biden are armchair warriors or kids playing at war, like the last administration was or Romney/Ryan would be. I think they inherited an incredibly complex mess. I think they are doing what they can to dial down the violence and establish some stability so we can leave Afghanistan with some ability to police itself and hopefully with some infrastructure repaired.

What we have done in the past 10 years is criminal. The unnecessary loss of life is heartbreaking. You started by responding that we don't get as passionate when our people have done that damage. But I haven't seen that here. There have been many cases in the past published here at DU when the US has flown children injured in our wars back to the US for advanced medical treatment.

[Astrad]

45. A very complex situation for certain

and I feel confident that Obama navigates it with as much humanity and intelligence as possible. But I think the argument that the drone war is protecting us is, at best, unproven. It could be creating as many enemies as it is defeating. I have seen no convincing argument that is makes us safer, and believe me, I've looked. Perhaps Obama has different information on that, and if so I believe he should share it. If he doesn't, than I think the drone war is being conducted for political expediency rather than national security. It makes the Democratic party look strong on defense without obligating them to commit massive resources. And if he ended it, he would be instantly attacked for being weak and making us vulnerable to our 'enemies'. And he would probably lose the election. So yes, a very complicated and depressing situation.

[magical thyme]

48. I think there are other factors that people tend to forget, especially

in the heat of the presidential race. The prez inherited an economy on the brink of catastrophe. A couple well-aimed and timed strikes could have collapsed it.

Forget about "looking weak" for the moment. If we walked away before Afghanistan and Iraq had decent security re-established, al Qaeda could take out our access to significant amounts of oil. They could bring the west -- especially the US -- to its knees in a heartbeat. Our society is so dependent on cheap oil it's terrifying and should never have been allowed to happen. Ending that dependency can't happen as quickly as people imagine. It's not just about cars.

Our agricultural system depends on it. I moved to a rural area 9 years ago and am now able to grow much of my own organic food supply in my yard and able to access even more locally. How many people in the US can say that? They think food prices are high now...cut off our oil and the supermarket shelves would decline precipitously and prices would skyrocket. We would have people starving.

Our health care system depends on it. The amount of energy burned by a hospital is staggering, both in running the hospital and in making and maintaining the instruments and supplies. We think health care is expensive now...cut off oil and prices would skyrocket even as supplies declined. All the ACA in the world wouldn't matter. Sick people would be doomed people.

Most of us still depend on it for heat. There are many, many people in the northern tiers (myself included) who would be at risk of freezing. I can heat 2 rooms with electricity, so as long as that continues I'd probably survive and luckily my state is already transitioning to renewables. To my north they get their electricity via a river. My immediate area just announced the first tidal system. So the transition is happening, but we were very, very vulnerable 4 years ago, and remain very vulnerable today.

So I tend to think that we have to keep al Qaeda at bay long enough to restructure so we don't need foreign oil. And I think that's what the Prez has been doing. Juggling a few dozen critical balls to keep the entire country from a disastrous collapse the could potentially kill millions, if not tens of millions.

[GeorgeGist]

16. ^

[myrna minx]

17. This *is* wonderful news.

What a remarkable young woman.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

19. The *^%#$@ Taliban has vowed to attack her again

once she recovers. I hope she is able to stay safe from these animals.

[femrap]

23. You are

giving 'animals' a bad name. The *&^*@ taliban are a sub-species of infected ooze.

[vduhr]

26. You are....

giving a sub-species of infected ooze a bad name.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

32. You are

both correct.

[femrap]

50. ...

[HopeHoops]

20. K&R

[leftynyc]

21. Excellent News

I'm hoping that once she recovers she can get asylum in Great Britain and get that education she yearns for. It's simply to dangerous for her to go back to the place where the taliban is still vowing to kill her.

[glinda]

39. Where is her family. They should be moved.

[femrap]

22. We send

you all our love and healing thoughts, Malal.

[hamsterjill]

24. Very happy to hear this!

Quite a young lady there. May she have a bright, bright future!

[Rider3]

27. Amazing!

Continue to get well!

[SunSeeker]

28. GREAT news. If she can write, her language abilities are intact.

When my mom had a massive stroke that affected the language center of her brain, even though she had the use of her left hand, she could not even type out her name, she just typed gibberish. She was only able to say a few words. It was devastating.

If Malala can already write, I am sure when they take that tube out of her throat, she will talk too. She may never be the same eloquent Malala, but it is so reassuring to know that her voice was not silenced.

It is good that she is in England getting treatment--she wouldn't stand a chance in Pakistan. I hope she fully recovers and then goes on to get a great education in England's finest Universities. Then, one day, return to her country to lead it out of its stone age.

[AgingAmerican]

31. Well that is good news

I hope she lives a long prosperous life

[siligut]

33. Yes, this is excellent news

Aside from a group of dull-minded, scared and weak penis-people, the whole world is pulling for this strong, brave girl.

[TBF]

34. So glad she is out of that country -

women here should definitely be taking note and watching our right-wingers carefully. I think there are plenty here who would treat women just as badly given half a chance.

[sellitman]

35. ....

....

[Chorophyll]

36. That IS excellent news!

[WillyT]

38. Thank You For That !!!

& Rec !!!

[kentuck]

41. That is such good news!

Malala is a special girl.

[Mad_Dem_X]

42. Wonderful!

I hope she and her family are safe.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

46. Thank you for posting.

[upi402]

47. Our next Aung San Suu Kyi, Ghandi, King