There are many interesting ideas in this world. This blog is dedicated to pursuing them wherever they go. Politics, philosophy, religion, environment, and anything else that captures imaginations and leads to healthy discussions. Never take the world for what it is, there's always a better way to do something.
It should come as no surprise to the regular followers of this blog when I say that I believe President Obama is making a great mistake by sending more troops to Afghanistan. I don’t know what he has been told at the war meetings, but I hope I can never agree with his decision.
However, as it appears that war will continue to drag on (some Senator mentioned that 5 more years is as long as American will tolerate), perhaps we need to start to think how we will remember this conflict. What kind of Memorial is going to be built in Washington to grieve for the loss of life sustained over these years?
A few weeks ago, on October 7th, we marked the eighth anniversary of our engagement in Iraq. I wonder how many people celebrated? Along the way we marked over 1,000 deaths of coalition forces, countless Taliban fighters, and the ultimate victims: Afghani civilians. It is a war which the public of United States, Afghanistan, and probably the rest of the world is against. At this point, I don’t think many people even remember why we’re fighting there in the first place.
I don’t think we’ll fully comprehend the impact 9/11 had on our society. It scared us, made us feel very vulnerable and very mortal. We realized the oceans that wash our shores aren’t so wide as to fully insulate us from the strife that plagues the rest of the world. We are very lucky in that respect. While we have had terrorist attacks against our country, few American civilians have lived through war. The last time we had a war within United States was over 130 years ago. Aside from those soldiers who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and other US conflicts, no one really knows what war is. Europe knows war. They remember well the destruction and loss of life that resulted from Hitlers ambitions to rule the world. Unfortunately, we are not as wise. And even more, unfortunately, we had men in power who capitalized on our feelings of fear and vulnerability after 9/11. The public was rallied to war. Some wanted revenge, others wanted terrorist wiped out to ensure safety, and few believed that we were going there for humanitarian reasons. I doubt any of those were real reasons for war. In reality, we either wanted another base in the region or we just wanted the resources the country had to offer.
Although this blog is still very, very young, I’ve been trying to determine what would it be best for. While right now and for the foreseeable future it is just a platform for my opinions, hopefully one day it will transform into something more than that. Maybe one day it will help change the world. However, I don’t think that that’s something that can be accomplished without understanding the world, it’s delicate interactions, and just how much impact we play on others. Today I want to bring to attention just how many are being hurt by United States’ political and military strategy in Pakistan.
It is unfortunate that the American public is not exposed to more information about the humanitarian disaster that is occurring in Pakistan right now. Instead of giving air time to pundits who do nothing but sow division and hate among the population, we need a news outlet that provides just that.. NEWS. From around the world, preferably. According to an Saadia Tour, an assistant professor at Staten Island, who was interviewed by CollegeSocialistWorker.org, the recent offensive by the Pakistan military, with full support from the United States, is having a terrible impact on the civilian population. Close to 150,000 have been displaced already, and experts estimate that another 250,000 will be driven from their homes before it’s over.
A senior U.S. official in Afghanistan, Matthew Hoh, became the first known U.S. official to resign in protest to the Afghanistan War. While this resignation probably will not be heard around the world, it is still a step in the right direction. Hoh, a former Marine Corp. captain with experience in Iraq, began working in Afghanistan earlier this year. However, after only five months in Afghanistan he describes the conflict as:
“..reminds me horribly of our involvement with South Vietnam; an unpopular corrupt government we backed at the expense of our Nation’s own internal peace.”
This is a major resignation, and definitively a blow to Obama administration’s plan in Afghanistan. Hoh is not, as he himself put it so eloquently:
‘..I’m not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love.. There are plenty of dudes who need to be killed, I was never more happy than when our Iraq team whacked a bunch of guys.’
