Letters: Malala Yousafzai's youthful wisdom - Los Angeles Times
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Letters: Malala Yousafzai’s youthful wisdom

A visitor reads the book "Ich bin Malala" (I am Malala) from Malala Yousafzai at the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany on Wednesday.
A visitor reads the book “Ich bin Malala” (I am Malala) from Malala Yousafzai at the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany on Wednesday.
(Thomas Lohnes / Getty Images)
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The irony of the 2013 Nobel laureates being announced concurrently with the U.S. government shutdown is perhaps too perfect. The immaturity of the quibbling American statesmen is only amplified by the refined maturity found in a girl from the backwaters of a country we rarely mention unless the word “terrorism” or “drone” follows closely behind.

Malala Yousafzai is 16 years old. She has done more to legitimize the “war on terror” than any politicians in Washington. She and her compatriots have been suffering from this war for longer than most Americans have recognized the name of her homeland.

Not to undermine her bravery in any way, but Malala brings a clear-headed defense in a way only a child can. This is not disparaging; her youth is her strength. She is young and therefore unaffected by politics, strategic alliances or payback.

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I hereby propose the Malala Amendment: the allowance of teenagers into Congress. Then, maybe, we’d get somewhere.

Kate Zabinsky

Los Angeles

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