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IN Arabic, `revolution` is a feminine noun. This is fitting, as without women revolutions are sterile. They have no movement, no life, no sound. Urdu, a distorter of tongues, pilfering as it does from Persian and Hindi, but largely Arabic, uses the masculine word for coup d`etat ingilab for revolution, rather than the accurate feminine: thawra. Perhaps that`s why the Taliban were confused. Perhaps that`s why they imagined that shooting a 15-yearold girl would somehow enhance their revolution. `I Am Malala`, Malala Yousufzai`s fearless memoir, cowritten with journalist Christina Lamb, begins on Malala`s drive home from school on the day she was shot in the head. `Who is Malala?` the young gunman who stopped the Khushal School van asked. None of the girls answered. But everyone in the valley knew who Malala was. Ten years old when the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan came to the beautiful Swat Valley, once the home of ancient Buddhist kings,11years old by the time she had established herself...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Every night around 8 o'clock, the terrified residents of Swat, a lush and picturesque valley a hundred miles from three of Pakistan's most important cities, crowd around their radios. They know that failure to listen and learn might lead to a lashing — or a beheading. Hundreds gathered Jan. 11 in Swat to watch drug dealers punished. The Taliban also have made it a crime to shave a beard. Using a portable radio transmitter, a local Taliban leader, Shah Doran, on most nights outlines newly proscribed "un-Islamic" activities in Swat, like selling DVDs, watching cable television, singing and dancing, criticizing the Taliban, shaving beards and allowing girls to attend school. He also reveals names of people the Taliban have recently killed for violating their decrees — and those they plan to kill. "They control everything through the radio," said one Swat resident, who declined to give his name for fear the Taliban might kill him. ...

I met Richard Holbrooke at a conference in Kazakhstan a few years ago alongside the arch-neocon Richard Perle. I was surprised by the similarity of views they both held towards the Muslim world in general and towards what the U.S. was doing post- 9/11 in Afghanistan. And if we remember that Holbrooke was Hillary Clinton's senior policy advisor, we will understand where he is really coming from. After all, Hillary Clinton supported the Iraq war until it became unpopular in the U.S., when she conveniently changed positions. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan— Accept that Obama has nothing positive to offer Pakistan . On the contrary, following the drone attacks, he moved to name Richard Holbrooke as Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to cut off a major chunk of money owed to Pakistan for military services rendered . And what has our reaction been? Without looking at Holbrooke's record, we have welcomed his appointment, and in response to the cutting of money owed, we have decla...

SWAT, known for its green meadows, gushing river and snow-capped mountains, has unfortunately come to relive its historic name, Suvastu — the white serpent — whose tenacity and viciousness has stung the political and military leadership so badly that both are now looking for new ways to put a lid on the monster of growing bloodshed and reclaim its fast-shrinking territory. The idyllic valley has gone really bad, its image distorted beyond recognition. Pakistan's most popular tourist destination is now haunted by death and fear; few officials now dare to go and serve there. Nearly 800 policemen — half of the total sanctioned strength of police in Swat, have either deserted or proceeded on long leave on one pretext or the other. Only one of the 600 police recruits trained by the military at the Punjab Regimental Centre in Mardan, volunteered to go and serve, while the others plainly refused to head to what is now being called the 'valley of death'. The second phase of the mil...