We Have to Win in Afghanistan: There is no Choice but to Stop the Taliban "Gendercide"
The invasion of Iraq under Bush and Blair was and still is an incredibly serious mistake. By contrast I believe it was right to remove the Taliban from Afghanistan, but it was a disastrous mistake to allow the situation in the country to deteriorate to the point where the Taliban were able to reassume power.
Why is it so important for the U.S. to stay in Afghanistan and win? It is not the threat of the potential loss of an oil or gas pipe line that would be a loss to western economic interests, it is the threat of "Gendercide." A woman forced to wear a burka Taliban style has neither the freedom to be seen, heard, nor to speak to anyone without her owner's permission. She is no longer a human being in the social sense.
Without freedom of movement, a woman is nothing more than a member of the living dead. For Americans to permit the Taliban to make their women into zombies right under the noses of U.S. troops would be to allow the Islamic fundamentalists of Afghanistan to present a model of success for the rest of the underdeveloped world--there is no choice but for the U.S. to win this particular war.
6 comments:
I support religious tolerance. But not when my tolerance of another's religion is also tolerance of physical and mental abuse. At that point, it is not the religion I condemn but the abuse.
I agree but have the following fears: am not sure the war is winnable nor that war is the right strategy. First, the taliban are at a huge home court advantage in their very rugged and unfriendly terrain. Second, I wish I knew more about how the afghan people feel about this. I agree that the taliban treatment of women is abominable, but we must choose our battles carefully.
the war is winnable if the right people in charge use their brains--Howard
It is nice to think that a country is so seriously concerned about gendercide issue of another country to keep there soldiers and spend so much money. But I am a little bit sceptic ....
The fight against gendercide may not have been the main intention for entering the war, but as a side effect it is of greater importance than any other factor.
This blog has been painful to consider, which is why I am so late to commenting on it. It became obvious to me early-on that a greater wisdom was needed. Today it came. Buddha was asked by a professional soldier whether there was in fact a heaven for fallen soldiers. He had to ask three (3) times before there was an answer. He was sincere. The beginning of the answer follows: "When a warrior strives & exerts himself in battle, his mind is already seized, debased and misdirected by the thought."... The soldier broke down and cried after hearing this, because he recognized the truth of it and that he had been lied to by his other 'teachers'.Can 'lasting' good and freedom from suffering be attained from general debasement? The same result was learned by an actor who also sought a heaven for actors. The advice being specific to actors whose work invoked rage, killing, sexual misconduct, greed, etc.. Both would be assigned to hell-like conditions after death. In short, NO!
A first possible response to this blog came when I considered 2 billion $s a week being spent on this war. To free woman from the tyranny of men, in the final analysis? Surely this is a very lofty and well-intentioned attempt at redeeming our actions in A. And I applaud that. The last reason General Pet. gave for the necessity of "winning", aka, "making progress", was the trillions of $s in mineral deposits under that land: Thinking of, "horse before the cart", here. I sometimes think if they had only told the truth from the beginning, of sacrificing human lives, destroying families here and abroad and temporarily bankrupting the country, but that there would be unimaginable dividends, we could have wholeheartedly said, "Yea!", or "Nay!". But there is always deception: The base of learned response by children regarding accepetable social interaction and practiced to avoid hearing,"NO!", to avoid guilt, or punishment, or censure. It's my idea of uptopia I guess.
My own experience of avoiding being drafted during the VNam war as a conscientious objector who found the idea of blowing other humans away, for any so called exceptional reason, was naturally/instinctively abhorrent to me. I was prepared to immigrate to Canada. It was obvious that my p.o.v. only prooved that I was sane and therefore 'fit' for duty. I could not abide such an absurdity. I was successful, with access to help from other sane people. My heart still aches for past and present victims of the human process of intermittent and psychotic mutual suicide. It is no less than that.
One can say that one does not believe in the form called Buddhism, etc..; but truth is a catylyst that can change wrong and imbalanced views. Catylysts, as we know, make change possible, but do not themselves change. Such is Eternal and Holy Truth with repect to forms. Of course, ones nose must be able to sniff the possibilty when offered in an exchange of thoughts. Thanks Howard for giving me an opportunity to review my past and relieve some of my current suffering. Please forgive the length.
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