Journalist Walter Rodgers visits JMU
Posted on February 29, 2008
Journalist Walter Rodgers knew a lawyer in Pakistan who disappeared for three years after receiving a call from someone he didn't know. When he returned he was in a vegetative state and was no longer able to practice his profession.
Rodgers told this story and many more to a crowd of listeners present at his lecture, "Whiter Pakistan: Creeping Talibanization or Social Democracy," on Wednesday night.
While Rodgers currently teaches a course on War and Journalism in the School of Media Arts and Design, he was active in the profession before coming to the University. He served as CNN's bureau chief in Jerusalem for five and a half years, and after 9/11 he reported from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey. More recently, Rodger's was embedded with the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry as it neared Baghdad during Operation Iraqi freedom. Wednesday night he discussed Pakistan and the U.S.'s involvement in its diplomacy.
Rodgers started his lecture by critiquing President Bush and Congress' desire to make Pakistan a democracy. Given current conditions, he does not see this as a possibility.
"No democracy requires that their citizenry live in fear of its government," he said. "That is what is seen in Pakistan...last year was the most violent year in Pakistan since it was created."
According to Rodgers, a language barrier could have contributed to the U.S.'s failure to establish a democracy in the middle-eastern country.
"Democracy is arguably born of the English speaking peoples," he said. "I think the English people are inheritably suited for democracy."
Part of this fear, according to Rodgers, stems from the Pakistani army. As the military has a lot of control over the government of Pakistan it can exert power over its citizenry.
"The army is above the government," he said. "It is a hidden government."
While the army may cause a lot of harm within the country, Rodger said that he doesn't thinkl the country could succeed without it. Already in a dangerous state, he thought the country might crumble without a strong force working to keep it together.
"The army, despite its flaws, is the glue holding that country together," he said.
While the army may serve this benefit, Rogders said that power must change hands before the country can improve its standing.
He said, "The salvation of Pakistan is nothing less than a total restructuring of power in a government."
For more information on what Rodgers discussed in Wednesday's speech, check out the March 13 issue of The Breeze.
