Thu 27 Aug, 2009
A Culture
“For a civilization to thrive, a culture must stay alive.” These are the words (paraphrased) of an Afghan man who was working to preserve and protect some of the lost and found hidden treasures in Afghanistan, now on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
I have been beside myself about this “war” in Afghanistan. I say “war” because it seems more like a long-term military operation with no clear enemy, no declaration of war against that enemy, and mostly innocent civilians getting killed. But what is war anyway?
This Afghanistan fiasco is my greatest disappointment with our new “President for Change.” This is no change. And there is no exit strategy. And we are creating more “terrorists.” There is no way to “win.”
What, exactly, are we doing there?
The New York Times, Saturday August 1, 2009, states that 1,013 Afghan civilians have been killed in the first six months of 2009 (these figures are probably low.) We have lost 128 servicemen in Afghanistan, compared to 108 in Iraq since the beginning of the year. The number of Afghan civilian deaths is almost ten times the number our military has lost. How would you feel if you were an Afghan civilian?
What disappoints me most about our “President for Change,” is that I believe he knows exactly what he is doing. He knows there is no exit. This is a quagmire. This a Vietnam. An Iraq, except worse because it does not have an end.
What, exactly, are we doing there?
The answers we are given:
The terrorists. This is Al Qaeda, yes? Hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan.
The Taliban. A brutal militant group of extremists who terrorize their own people.
Pakistan. Pakistan has nuclear weapons (which of course we helped them acquire). And it is imperative that we keep these weapons from the terrorists.
These seem like reasonable CONCERNS. At least on the surface. At least to a nation who has been terrorized by the word terrorist.
BUT.
How will we win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people by destroying their culture, their treasures, and the fabric of their society?
What is especially heartbreaking to me is that my “President for Change” is not changing our TRUE priorities, or our reckless desire to perpetuate the War Machine for profit. I am afraid of what I will find if I get a breakdown of who gave the “President for Change,” money for his campaign and who has the military contracts in Afghanistan. That will have to be another article.
I BELIEVED in the “President for Change,” and I thought that our democracy – however in conflict with Capitalism – might be working. Just a little. I thought that the priorities were HEALTHCARE BEFORE “WAR,” and that if push came to shove, the Harvard man would be willing to send fewer troops to Afghanistan and put some of this money into “fixing our broken healthcare system.” But people put their money where their mouth is, and our money is going to fight the terrorists and kill civilians, while breeding more terrorists for our next “war.” We are living our values. Sadly, our country is not about the courage to change but about greed in banking, healthcare, and international policy.
We are burying ourselves in the financial wreckage of “war,” while we bomb and bury a Culture that we do not even understand, while we continue on the path of evil clothed as righteousness all the while pointing our fingers at the Other who terrorizes. The Other is ourselves.
I would love to see us Get Out of Afghanistan and Into Healthcare.
ld Napier
