The seizure of British sailors – and their surprising release – seemed to be Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s perfect publicity stunt. He caught the world’s attention, made them gasp and then suddenly offered a goodwill gesture, just before Christian Easter. The media has displayed his smiling photo with the happy British marines all over the world. The value of this image as a means to gain public appraisal is obvious. The whole episode is an undeniable master’s coup.

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“Inside O Globo” is a column dedicated to behind the scenes stories about our work as reporters, published in the newspaper in which I write my own column. O Globo’s journalists are its characters. The last issue was not about one of us, but about Alan Johnston. Every journalist in the world shares his drama. Nothing justifies violence against journalists.

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President Bush is so predictable! He needs a war, he desperately needs an enemy, and he wants to refurbish his vociferous threats against Evil. Who is Evil? It doesn’t matter. Once upon a time it was Saddam Hussein and his unseen stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Today it is necessary to replace the headless Saddam, and nobody is a better choice than the president of Iran.

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What does “Pakistani danger” mean? It depends. One of my heroes is Mukhtar Mai, a Pakistani and one of the bravest women on Earth. After a tribunal sentenced her to be gang-raped, Mukhtar turned her personal suffering into a collective victory when she decided to fight her aggressors in court. She has been fighting violence against women, medieval tribal trials and the caste system since her tragedy.

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