| Skin Deep Diplomacy |
24 February 2003
|
Miss Germany Wastes Time in Appeal for Peace
The TV journalists were tossed a soft story the other day with the arrival of Miss Germany in Baghdad. Miss Alexandra Vodjanikova, a predictably pretty, 19-year-old blonde from Munich, visited hospitals and such hoping her good will efforts would help halt the drive to war. It is difficult to know where to begin with such muddleheadedness.
First off, it should be noted that she has the same rights as non-beautiful people to do what she feels in her heart she must do. That said, one wonders how she is contributing anything at all to the peace efforts. Raising consciousness is done nicely by CNN, BBC, CBC, and so on. People know that there's a problem, and that war is a very real possibility.
So, after drawing attention to the situation, she is something of a spent force. She speaks no Arabic, has never traveled in the Middle East before, and has no degree in history, politics, economics or anthropology on which to draw. In matters of war and peace, one doesn't get by on one's looks.
One must, of course, applaud the fact that she does care; complacency was the bane of youth from the 1970s to the present. Yet there is no place for her, or those like her, at the conference table. Matters of world peace are best left to those who actually know something about the issues at hand. Whether the ignorant march for peace, or call their local talk show to shout "By jingo!", they remain ignorant. Perhaps the professionals will march the world into war anyway, but with the uninformed working both sides of the street, the planet marches with its eyes shut.