The Foreign Service Journal, September 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2014 43 It happened last year, following the attempt by the Pakistan Taliban on the life of Malala Yousafzai, the Pashtun adolescent from Pakistan’s Swat valley who championed female educa- tion. Malala of Swat was named by her forward-looking father after Malala of Maiwand, a 19th-century Afghan heroine of whom folk songs are sung, stories are written and schools are named. At the height of battle against British forces in 1880, she had ripped off her veil, waved it like a flag and rallied the Afghan troops: the result was a famous victory during what the British refer to as the Second Afghan War. The heroine died shortly afterward, and the shrine constructed in her memory is visited to this day. The courage of both Malalas resonates for obvious reasons, providing an important example of bravery and outspoken- ness across two countries that are often at odds, yet face similar challenges. In Kandahar, where I was then undertaking the hardest assignment of my life, outreach was difficult. Yet this was a story that might help facilitate it. My reflection on the two Malalas’ bravery and continued relevance almost wrote itself, and would have provided an important point of conversation. But the story never appeared in the local Pashto press, apparently because of concerns that such commentary might inadvertently undermine Malala’s credibility in the face of conspiracy theories already emerging in Pakistan, that the United States was somehow behind the attack. Several months later, Secretary of State John F. Kerry addressed embassy staff in Afghanistan via video conference. In his remarks, Kerry emphasized candor and outreach as two essential aspects of our service. Viewed from the distance of Kandahar, the “spiking” of the Malala story by decision-makers in Washington suggested that we were missing important opportunities in both of those areas. Or, as a Foreign Service colleague with strong ties to Ambassador Jonathan Addleton, second from left, meets with the district governor, second from right, and security officials in Panjwai district, west of Kandahar city, in fall 2012. Panjwai was once considered among the most violent districts in Afghanistan.