Bombing into the Stone Age?
By louisehartmann
You need to know this about Afghanistan. The old joke used to be that we couldn't bomb the country into the stone age, because most of it is already there. It's one of the poorest countries in the world, only about a quarter of Afghans can read or write, and there's no national radio or TV infrastructure - large parts of the country don't even have electricity. So when 9/11 happened here, nobody told the Afghans. According to a new report on the Afghan population, 92% of Afghans today don’t know what 9/11 was. They have no idea why we're there, and 40% of Afghan adults think we're occupying their country simply to destroy Islam. This, after nearly 10 years of occupying the country. Still – military commanders and President Obama aren’t getting the message, as it looks like US engagement in the country will continue beyond 2014. How are we supposed to be successful when most Afghans don't know why we're there? On top of that - how are we supposed to change hearts and minds - when the same prisoner abuses, illegal rendition practices, and unlawful drone strikes are rubber-stamped instead of investigated by an Obama administration. It’s time to go.
Comments
#2
Greg Mortensen would be a natural to fix the problems we've made for ourselves in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Books and education are the solution, not death and destruction.
Read the book -
Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War
and we'll see that our warmaking is no sainted mission. Remember Reader's Digest accounts of the brutality of the Soviet soldier. What's happened to us, all ouf us?!
#3
I agree with the idea of consulting Greg Mortensen. The White House should offer GM an active role in a 180 Degrees change in policy objective. What we've done so far has worked so sporadically that it is simply not worth the thiousands of human lives we've destroyed. I can just imagine sitting in my porch after dinner, and all of a sudden a massive explosion goes off near my home. The US thought they could KILL an Al Qaeda operative that was hidding in my neighborhood: ....OH AND BY THE WAY, 20 OTHERS DIED FROM THE BOMB.
Are you kidding me?
We need to get NOW and bring Greg Mortensen to the table.
#4
Two words only.
Thank you.
#5
When should we get out of Afghanistan? YESTERDAY!
#6
Please Mr. President -- Afghanistan proved to be the USSR's "Vietnam" and it will be our "second Vietnam" if we don't pull out soon. Trying to impose our will upon the Afghans is impossible. Too many people in uniform are being sent home in coffins. Time to end this for the sake of all parties concerned.
#7
we never should have went in the first place..and...we should leave now
what this government is doing will make no difference in our security
other than make more of the world hate our government.
#8
Some General somewhere said recently that what we need to do in Afghanistan is declare victory and pull out.
If your shooting at me and I'm at home and I have no clear idea why your shooting at me, what the hay can anyone expect me to do save shoot back ?
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The way of killing each other must end, and using violence against violence will never work towards that end. The elimination of all war machines and their weapons is the only way in which any action anywhere will be successful. If we stop shipping our own weapons overseas, if we stop buying the weapons which we use to kill others, that action alone will reduce much of the violence, except that we have already given billions to groups which have used that money against us, thus forcing us to make and buy more weapons. Who profits from war? the arms dealers only, which should face criminal charges.
Telling us half truths to discredit someone else's viewpoint and then using that misinformation to enforce actions which cause violence and increase corruption while limiting the rights of voters under the disquise of moral and just legal means is fraud at the very least, yet no one is getting arrested for lying to the people about having a working democracy. Starting over should also include better enforcment of the will of the people against the lies of lobbyests.
Each person is connected to the Earth in ways untold to most of us, if we can see we are not seperate people but the care takers of the Earth and what lives on it, we might have a chance.