(Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - the respite between military coups)

Most people think of Pakistan these days as "the unstable region" and names like Zia, Musharif and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto come to mind. But I suspect not a lot of people (certainly in recent years) have heard President-turned-Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was, among other things, the father of Benazir Bhutto and leader of a country coming out of the losing end of a war with India, the loss of a region (Bangaladesh) and pulling itself out of one military dictatorship before falling into another in the later 70s.

Prime Minister Bhutto tried to establish a democratic form of government and did his level best to sell that idea to the rest of the world, including the U.S.

Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: “If I may put it briefly, the Pakistan of today has little resemblance to the pre-1971 Pakistan. We call it a New Pakistan. Let me tell you why. Geographically it is no doubt a Pakistan reduced in size by the separation of its eastern part, but it is also far more cohesive and united. Far more confident of its future. Politically, it is a Pakistan which is determined to nurture democratic institutions. As you know, Pakistan was ruled by a military dictatorship for more than a decade. It is my country’s pride that, after twelve years of military rule, which inevitably devitalized our political life, we are firmly established civilian supremacy and a government accountable to the people.”

The attempt was short lived, as history has documented so well. But for those of you who think Pakistan's problems are a thing of recent vintage and that a country in a state of perpetual turmoil is something that happened since 2001, it just ain't so.

Not one to shrink from public life after the death of FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt became, as longtime friend Adlai Stevenson put it, "a citizen of the world". Championing the cause of Human Rights and making it part of the United Nations Charter, Mrs. Roosevelt was instrumental in numerous humanitarian causes and aid throughout the world, particularly in the Post-War period and the emergence of independent nations.

In 1950 NBC asked her to host a series of informal get-togethers between Mrs. Roosevelt and various World leaders on a variety of subjects. The program was called "Today With Mrs. Roosevelt".

This episode features an interview between Mrs. Roosevelt and Pakistani Prime Minister Ali Khan over the emerging independence of Pakistan and India and the recent conflicts that erupted over the Kashmir region.

It's an area that's been of great interest over the last ten years (Afghanistan being a border country) and the political atmosphere in Pakistan has been fluctuating wildly ever since the late 1940's, as have the tensions between Pakistan and neighboring India.

It's early Television and sounds a little primitive by today's standards - but it's a historic glimpse into the Post-World War 2 period. The one that hasn't quite ironed itself out yet.

This January 3rd in 1948 should have been an indicator of how the year was going to go. But, as is the case with all history - it's only best viewed in hindsight.

The year started off with severe weather, cutting a frozen swath from Texas to the Eastern seaboard, bogging everyone down in snow, downed power lines and icy roads. Even the announcer of this newscast admitted he was stranded in New York with no way of getting home, at least for the day.

But the cold weather was just one of the elements going on in the world that day. In France, an anti-inflation bill was going up for vote. And how it went would determine either the end or the continuation of the Robert Schuman government.

In other parts of the world - the newly partitioned Palestine region was still enveloped in protest and fighting. Greece was going through it's trials and tribulations with guerrilla fighting and disputes between India and Pakistan were on the slow-but-sure boil to armed conflict.

The one hopeful bit of news came by way of the newly independent nation of Burma, who bid farewell to British rule over the country and started off on its own adventure on this day.

So, a busy day in a year that hadn't really gotten quite started yet - January 3rd, 1948 as reported by John Cameron Swayze and the NBC News Of The World.

(Picture the entire state of New York, homeless and in a shambles)

The devastating floods which are hitting Pakistan, and continuing as of this moment, have been getting scant coverage by our media. I'm not entirely sure why that's the case, but I can guess. Certainly, the U.S. government has been pledging aid and sending supplies. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered an address to the UN earlier today reiterating our efforts in aiding the 20million + displaced people whose homes and livelihoods have been washed away and the rains which continue to turn more people homeless as the flood waters rise.

I'm offering two reports to give some idea of the severity of this worsening situation. One is from the BBC World Service, broadcast at 2100 hours GMT earlier today (the 19th) and the other is a live news report from Radio Pakistan from 8:00 pm this evening Los Angeles time (8:00 am tomorrow in Islamabad).

The Radio Pakistan clip (down here) starts off in Pashto with excerpts from the UN addresses and then the hourly news starts in English.

And at last report there was no end in sight.

(Benazir Bhutto - Assassination was only seconds away)

Only two years ago, but could be another century. This Year-End wrap up comes from 2007, about to dive knee-deep into the 2008 elections and the continuing saga of Pakistan. The return of Benazir Bhutto and the subsequent assassination, turning an already shaky country into a state of chaos. And indications our economy was about to cascade into the abyss - but there was that denial thing.

Two years ago.

(Gen. Zia - Tea and Kleenex - there's a message here)

When this interview was conducted on May 18, 1980, Afghanistan was under Soviet occupation a little over six months. There was also the matter of fifty American hostages in Tehran and the U.S. elections heating up. Zia headed up a military coup that overthrew the legitimate elected government of Ali Bhutto and after staging a rather dubious trial, executed him, much to the shock and horror of the rest of the world. Zia would later die in a helicopter crash, also of dubious circumstances.

I think it would be fair to say that the instability of the region has a long history and having Atomic weapons capabilities makes the stomach turn just a bit faster as a result.

General Zia managed to conduct a one-on-one with Walter Cronkite and offered a few insights that, in hindsight may seem prophetic.

Gen. Zia: “What I am trying to say is, The United States Of America must see the true priorities in this region. If this region has any strategic significance in the minds of the United States citizens, if this region has any significance to the ultimate interests of the United States of America and the free world, then I am afraid the question of hostages should not be viewed on the emotional plain. I very strongly recommend, Mister Cronkite, that we should view the situation in a much bigger perspective. It is a global problem in my opinion. The lives of fifty American nationals is as dear and as valuable to me as it is to any United States citizen. But I say there are much greater things at stake at the present moment, and we should take out the emotional aspects of an election year or of the human aspects of this, this cannot be ignored, I must agree. But I think there are much greater stakes involved in this issue than only the lives of fifty nationals.”

So in retrospect, listening to this interview now and knowing our current situation with Afghanistan and our relationship with Pakistan, it would seem the current problems with the Taliban in the region have been more or less a work-in-progress the last 25 or so years.

Nothing is ever as it seems and nothing ever happens instantly.