Thanks, xanakis. And if love is not a word everyone is comfortable with, compassion might be.
I hope that Americans can avoid turning their hearts into a minefield of hatred, and pursue a course of rational, compassionate action.
This thread made my day!
Wage Love, Not War.
The part you’re missing is that if the people who contributed to social security get wiped out by a smallpox bomb then there’s really no need for social security now, is there? We have to make sure there’s a country full of people here to take part in that bounty before we start saving up.
First, defend. Later, once we have security, we can share good things like clean water and democracy. Once we have THOSE things under control, then it’s time for Nordstrom’s.
I think that this idea is great and should be implemented worldwide. Not only would it improve the third (or fourth world’s) opinion of us, but from everything I have seen, the rise of a large middle class tends to damage dictatorships, while extreme poverty tends to help them. I know that this is a complex economic question, but how many of us wouldn’t be willing to exchange some of the potential growth in our material well being for the assurace that we were working toward a more equitable world economy.
I agree, this sounds like a great idea. Sun Tzu would be very happy, what with confounding enemy alliances and whatnot. Unconventional warfare calls for unorthodox methods.
Gee- I feel all warm and fuzzy now! What a wonderful idea to end all conflict! Why don’t we all parachute in and implement these wonderful ideas immediately?
On second thought, I’ll stay here in the states and monitor your progress and report it to the boards.
From my reading of the latest news today, it seems that the powers-that-be have taken this idea on board to some extent.
The US have said that their warplanes will be carrying, not just bombs, but also food parcels and leaflets explaining that the other countries of the world are trying to help the people of Afghanistan.
There are also accounts of some members of the Taliban beginning to defect to opposition groups and at least one town has stopped obeying the Taliban’s orders.
Pakistan’s leader General Musharraf has said that the Taliban’s days are numbered.
The actions we take in the next few weeks will be crucial to making this plan work. But if we do it right, I think the Afghan people will do most of our work for us. And it is better if the Taliban are ousted by their own people (with a little help from the rest of the world) than if they are ousted by a foreign power.
These people don’t particularly like the Taliban but they don’t much like America either so it may cause resentment if the US is seen to be taking too active a role in removing the Taliban.
And, in any case, if done properly I don’t think it will be necessary for the US to do too much overt ground fighting.
I’d like to think that this humble little thread may have found it’s way to Those In Charge and thats partly why they are now starting to pursue my policy. Although, I admit, it’s unlikely.
I haven’t had the call from the White House yet anyway.
But, George, just give me the word and I’ll be there in a shot. I’ve got some other ideas, as well, about how to resolve all this mess with a minimum of fuss.
In case anyone thought that food supplies might not do the trick, I must remind you that it’s more important to provide Afghans the means to create (again) an agricultural economy that could provide what is needed -food. This is the only long-term method that seemed to work on African countries.
The humane thing, would be to provide medication as well.
Based in recent developments, or rather the lack of them (missile-wise) I’d cautiously echo the sentiment that it seems our leaders are taking a long hard look at just what it is they want to do.
Bush may not be a rocket scientist, but he’s smart enough to defer to his advisors. Powell, Rumsfeld, and Cheney aren’t true hawks like some in Congress. (Condaleeeza Rice, on the other hand, is one scary mutha.) They know that the new kind of terrorist breeds off anger and discontent, and that polarizing the West-Muslim conflict (or its preception) will only cause more problems. They also know that killing Bin Laden will make him a martyr and energize his remaining cells worldwide. I don’t agree with Powell, Cheney, or Rumsfeld politically, but I do believe that they are sincere about protecting us from terror in the long term.
They’d also love to see Afghanistan develop democratically, if only to be used as a future airbase. In the last three weeks the US has developed an unprecedented cooperation with Pakistan, solicited sympathy from Iran, and been offered use of land in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan–with Russian blessing. It’s a good streak, they don’t want to spoil it with a single missile if they don’t have to.
Already the UN is sending relief supplies to the refugees, and Bush has approved more. Inevitably the hawkish attitudes of many Americans will follow suit, supported by the press finally catching up and telling in depth stories about Afghanistan and its people. Polls may still indicate support for military strikes, but I suspect new polls would indicate that most now recognize the victimhood of the Afghanis and can differentiate them from terrorists and Taliban. That’s crucial.
Also, there’s hardly anyone to bomb. No buildings, no airbases, a few planes maybe. The US is certainly showing its military might, as it is prone to do (and perhaps appropriately so) but it’s being quite restrained in its measures. No one wants to see US soldiers killed, even if we support the possibility. The Northern Alliance has agreed to set up a populist tribal government under the symbolic leadership of the ousted Pashtun king, suggesting that they are willing to be (eventually) the ethnic minority in a democratic Afghan government. Would the US rather have Afghans kill Afghans or Marines kill Afghans? No contest. Despite the call for blood catharsis Bush knows that if he can pull off getting Bin Laden, shutting off Al Queda’s money, deposing the Taleban, instituting the best Afghan gov’t in 30 years, maintaining good ties with moderate Islamis states, holding NATO, US, and Russian support, and warming our relations with Paki, all without a single lost American life, he’d secure his place in history as the ultimate savant–and a two-term savant at that.
Hell, if he could pull it off and truly help save the Afghansi people, I might even vote for him. Jeez.
There’s a long way to go, but I think things have gone way better than I would have predicted. There’s a chance for the right solution yet. As long as we continue to voice our opinions about this, the idea will gain strength.
One thing that many people may not realise. Back in the seventies, before Russia invaded, Afghanistan was a happy, peaceful nation.
I’ve got a friend who visited there in the mid-seventies. He tells me it was really cool back then. It was on the so called “hippy trail” that led from San Fran through London, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Kabul and on to Katmandhu in Nepal.
The “hippy trail” consisted of a list of towns that were considered peaceful and laid back by the hippies. It was thought that, in order to be a true hippy, you had to do this trail at least once. Kind of like how all muslims are supposed to visit Mecca at least once.
So off they’d go in their “magical mystery buses” or whatever it is they did back then.
What I want to see is Afghanistan go back to how it was back then. All the same people are there.
The Taliban come from hard-line schools in Pakistan. Bin Laden and his mob aren’t even Afghani at all. They are mostly Arab, many from Saudi.
I think it’s time for the Afghanis to be given a chance to rule themselves for a change.
Does anyone remember our little love bombs in Somalia? Remember who ended up with all the food?
While the idea may feel good, it is ultimately fatuous. The last thing the US wants to do is permit factions from further asserting their control over Afghanistan by means of hoarding and controlling access to US-provided food.
maeglin:
In Kosovo we successfully dropped packages to small muslim enclaves.
It can be done. It just has to be done right.
The difference between this situation and other past situations is that, here, the Taliban are going to be too busy fighting to maintain their own existence to bother with hoarding and guarding food supplies.
They are faced with the prospect of being attacked from all sides. By the combined strength of most of the militarily advanced countries of the world. Including the US, the mightiest military force man has ever known.
Believe me, they are going to have enough on their hands without inciting their own people.
I thought we were already giving them food?
Anyway, why not send say, Britney Spears? She could perform for them.
Yeah, because that has relevence to anything at all…
:rolleyes:
It does sound like the Bush administration has been reading this thread.
Also, Joe Biden is introducting legislation aimed at rebuilding Afghanistan.