Two years ago, a Taliban gunman boarded a school bus in Pakistan and fired a shot that outraged the world. He seriously wounded 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai. She recovered, became a powerful voice in the fight against Taliban extremism, and won the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
Last week, on Tuesday, another Malala moment staggered Pakistan . . . and the world.
Taliban gunmen stormed a military school in Peshawar and slaughtered more than 140 people, mostly children. This was no random school. These students were children of Pakistan Army officers and soldiers, who are leading a campaign to crush the Taliban in their tribal badlands.
The Taliban gunmen slipped through a back gate and opened fire on children in classrooms and hallways. The terrorists bolted from room to room, shooting children at will.
Taliban leaders claimed the attack was revenge for Pakistan Army incursions into their tribal areas and for U.S. drone strikes against their leaders.
"We selected the army's school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females," a Taliban spokesman said. "We want them to feel the pain."
This massacre of innocent children repulses Pakistan . . . and the world. Now, how will Pakistan respond?
Islamabad knows what doesn't work. For years, Pakistan's leaders negotiated truce after truce with the Taliban. These leaders tried to appease the terrorists by surrendering the Swat valley on the Afghanistan border. Each time, the Taliban seized the opportunity to re-arm, regroup and threaten major Pakistan cities.
In recent months, however, Pakistan has shown renewed resolve to root out the terrorists. This fall, a Pakistan Army onslaught and a series of U.S. drone strikes forced a Taliban retreat. Pakistan's commanders vowed they would root out the terrorists and prevail. The horrific scale of the Taliban's response reflects how powerful the military's campaign has been.
In the aftermath of the Peshawar attack Tuesday, Pakistan launched more airstrikes. Yet even with small bodies piling up in the Peshawar morgue, a forceful Pakistan response is not a foregone conclusion.
The country has been a shaky ally for the U.S. and a dangerous neighbor for Afghanistan. Some people in Pakistan's government and intelligence play both sides of the conflict, secretly funneling aid to homegrown terrorists while pretending to help the U.S. and its allies.
Pakistan's leaders have often been hesitant to take on the Taliban. Over the years, some Pakistan leaders have complained about U.S. drone strikes on Taliban leaders. They've claimed that such strikes sabotaged peace talks with the Taliban. But the Taliban don't want peace. They seek to overthrow Pakistan's government. They aim to lash out at the West, particularly the U.S. They seek a world that beheads unbelievers and forbids girls--like Malala--from attending school.
Pakistan mourns today. But it also gains strength from children such as Malala, who refused to be intimidated. Who demanded the right to go to school. "I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters," Malala said after the Tuesday attack. "But we will never be defeated."
Let this be Pakistan's last Malala moment.