Here’s a working URL for the border situation:
The OP has a great idea, but there’s a big bump down the road:
What happens when the Palestinians start saying “Hey, whaddabout us? You’re giving Israel $2 billion a year to blow us to bits, how about some humanitarian aid here?”
Romans,Chapter 12 Verse 20-
“Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink: for in doing so you shall heap coals of fire on his head.”
I hate to agree with Paul about anything, but I think it would do us a lot of good AND really piss bin Laden off.
In all seriousness, I do think this would work. (I still like the idea of love bombing Bin Laden though-can you imagine how PISSED the guy would be?).
I mean, it’s like fighting against your elderly grandmother in her wheelchair. Let’s BE the great nation we are-let’s BE the helper of the world and DO this.
I’m gonna e-mail Tuba-this SHOULD be in threadspotting.
<stands up and applauds the OP>
Xanakis, I salute you! Any chance of Washington installing you as Chief of Foreign Affairs?
xanakis and essvee: Best posts I’ve read about this issue yet!
I’m totally with you.
I agree with the original poster. At first, my kneejerk response was to turn all of Afghanistan into a parking-lot. But if that is done, the whole world will probably explode. Here are my ideas:
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The U.S. should enter Afghanistan and pin the Taliban into a small, inhospitable hole in the center of the country and shut it off, not letting even a broken-down mule out. The price of exit should be surrender of ALL terrorists (to stand trial) and their weapons, surrender of all communications, etc.
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Freeze bank accounts, communications, everything so that the Taliban are isolated. They have to surrender in order to survive.
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International organizations such as the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, muslim relief organizations should move in to help the destitute Afghanis.
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Voice of America should be broadcast into all parts of international hotspots so that the populace has another point of view to believe instead of a one-sided brainwashing.
Anyhow, I think this approach may work well. Obviously, I’ve left out a few details, but I don’t think even hardline right wingers could fault this plan. I really felt uncomfortable with the idea that we should “bomb them all, and let God sort it out”.
I’ve been thinking about the same thing today. The reason why these people are willing to lay down their lives is because they don’t have much to live for.
The only way to stop such attacks is increase their standard of living so that no one will be willing to throw away their lives.
But then imagine…
if we didn’t drop any bombs at all only thousands of food parcels to help the Afghani people.
(excepting, of course, missiles fired into unpopulated areas to hit Bin Laden and his troops)
I think the Afghani people would realise that we are on their side. They would therefore help us with the battle and this is the only way to win - enlist the support of the local populace.
Not to mention the support of the neighbouring muslim countries (especially Pakistan).
The reason the Russians found it difficult to beat the Afghans is partly because the “enemy” knew every nook and cranny of this mountainous country and partly because of the spirit of the Afghan fighters. They will fight to the last man.
So our best chance of success (with minimal casualties) is to win over the local population. No one fights like an Afghan except another Afghan.
So lets not give them a reason to fight us. Lets bomb them with love.
“However the US planes should not only be carrying bombs but also large amounts of food parcels”
Right. Here are some Afghans looking at the food:
“Look, they sent food!”
“I don’t like american food!”
“I bet its poisoned too”
“Let’s give it to the camels & find out.”
See, I think that we should not only spend about half of that $40B Congress has given the president on aid for the Afghanistan people, I think we should look to other Muslim countries for ways to make the food, clothing, and help we send them that much more effective.
There are some Muslim dietary laws, yes? Make sure that anything we send them follow those dictates.
There are scholars of the Quran who have eloquently spoken out against the WTC attack - put their stuff in the aid packages, so those Afghanis who CAN read discover a new perspective.
Include medicine, clothing, blankets, and wrap each item in a prayer to Allah, blessing the Afghani and condemning the Taliban. Put in pictures of those who were killed in the attacks, especially the Muslims and Afghanis. Ask families of the victims to write small blurbs about their loved ones and translate them into appropriate text or pictographs.
I would love for the people of Afghanistan to see us as merciful and loving people and the Taliban as the villains they are. If we did this well enough, we wouldn’t have to send a single soldier over there. Well, maybe a few, to pick up bin Laden as soon as they kick him out.
YES YES YES
And because you don’t run the gov. of the USA you have to do what you can. Let your family and friends see you as calm and reasonable, loving and compassionate.
I am so glad that not everyone is getting ready to kill the OTHERS. There are no Others. We are humans.
I wish you all Metta (Loving Kindness)
Seriously? A non-profit organization, or something?
Something that sends these kinds of packages to war torn countries, with information on kindness and love? Of course, the sad thing is, I suspect many of these people are illiterate…
Seriously, this SHOULD be in Great Debates. It’s a fantastic idea.
I just had a funny thought. We love bomb them with SPAM! SPAM, SPAM, SPAM,SPAM…
I want to thank you all for being the voice of sanity. I have been haveing a very hard time going to work this week. Everyone there want to kill all the ‘crazy arabs.’ The funny thing is that these people can call the ‘others’ religious fanitics without realising the irony. They are fundamentilist christians. Anyone want to join me here in the bible belt.
I like this idea–a lot. It’s humane AND smart.
Oh, not dropping food “bombs”. I doubt much would remain in the hands of ordinary people who need it most. I’d wager it would be mistrusted at first, then the Taliban would build that mistrust–while confiscating the food for their own use and/or “appropriately packaged” redistribution.
A friend was a child in Italy during WWII. She said the Allies flummoxed the population by immediately repairing public water supplies and handing out food. Okay, it’s anecdotal, from a very different war and time, but there’s a valuable principle still.
It goes against first impulse to hand out aid in response to the 9/11 devastation. But hungy, exhausted, desperately poor people are fodder for hate-filled zealots. Multi-millionaire Bin Lauden could have single-handedly raised Afhanistan from the rubble left from Soviet occupation and civil war. Instead he financed terrorism and used desperate people as a human shield. Nice damned thanks for hospitality.
Well, we have waaayyy more resources than Bin Lauden and could put them to much better use. We could prove that “western influence” doesn’t have to mean anything more than being fed and free AND Muslim according to their choices.
There are huge hurdles–domestic and worldwide. But seems to me this is only solution that holds a glimmer of real hope for the future. We’re in real peril of perpetuating hate for generations to come.
Veb
Reports that I have seen state that bin lauden has approx. 200 million dollars. Thats a lot, but we are talking about spending billions not millions. A million bucks just ain’t what it used to be.
I hate to be skeptical of such a nice idea but the US has given $124 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan this year including 200,000 tons of wheat and last year we gave $114 million in humanitarian aid. This is in addition to the millions we sent over there during the eighties to defend their country when the USSR invaded. We have also spent hundreds of millions to protect the muslims in Kosovo form the Serbs, not to mention the hundreds of millions to rescue the Saudis and Kuwatis from Saddam Hussein. If the tens of bilions of dollars we have spent to defend and help muslim countries around the world have not engendered any gratitude, it seems unlikely that a couple of extra hundred million in food will turn things around.
I think this is a great idea too but it will ONLY work if we provide the needed aid AND take out the Taliban at the same time. If we don’t take out the Taliban, the people who need the assistance will never get it.
Good point, labdude. I was guilty of hyperbole in that one (besides the horrendous typo in “Afghanistan”). It just galls me how much good Bin Lauden could have done with his $200 million if he’d used it as seed money for networks improving healthcare, agriculture, creating new industries, etc.
But you’re quite right and good catch.
Veb
It always amazes me when I hear people complain about spending say, 1 billion on social security, but have no qualms about spending 5 billion on nuclear missiles or what have you.
I’m not talking about government, or which political sides do which-just that it seems we’d rather kill each other than help each other.