Some Thoughts on the War in Afghanistan

Since the time of Alexander the Great, the Afghan people have been under the control of one outside power after another. The United States, with our high ideals and democratic values, is at the end of the day, just the most recent in a succession of occupying powers. We are not the first, and we will certainly not be the last. We flatter ourselves that we are bringing the light of democracy to an oppressed people, and we sleep well at night, while bombs rain down on the people of Afghanistan whose interest we claim to serve.

Our occupation of Afghanistan was doomed to failure from the start. Democracy cannot be served to a people on a silver platter, they have to want it, with every fiber of their social being. The afghani people, most of whom live in insular villages, are far removed from whatever government sits in Kabul, whether it the current corrupt administration, the Taliban, the Mujahadin, the Soviets, or the ancient Greeks. They herd their goats, and farm what crops will grow as they have for hundreds and thousands of years. Their primary taste of "government" is whatever bomb, artillery shell or AK-47 chances to kill one of their children. Our ethnocentric view of what constitutes "winning" in Afghanistan, is destroying lives. It is destroying not only Afghani lives, but American lives as well. over 1000 service members have now lost their lives in Afghanistan. That is 1000 mothers who have buried their sons, 1000 husbands who now mourn their wives, and 1000 children who will grow up with the painful memory of a parent who wasn't there, and for what? Both this administration and the last insist that Afghanistan, 300,000 square miles of mostly barren rock, is somehow vital to national security, that should we lose control of it Al-Qaeda will explode once again onto the world scene, and there will be nothing to stop another attack on the magnitude of the september 11th attacks. To me this is a ludicrous assertion, there is nothing special about Afghanistan that would enable a resurgence of strength in the cause of that organization that could not be obtained in the mountains of Iran, the deserts of Saudi Arabia, or the plains of the Serengeti. So to waste American and Afghani lives on a mission that is contrary to the wishes of the American people(a recent CNN poll showed that only 44% of the American people are in favor of the war in Afghanistan, and 42% favor a rapid withdrawal strategy.) is not only morally objectionable, but contrary to democratic principle. I do not discredit the sacrifices of the veterans of this war. I respect, admire and and am thankful for the bravery, honor and courage that our soldiers show everyday, but we shouldn't spend that courage so thriftlessly. We must honor the courage and dedication of our soldiers by wielding it wisely. We must leave the people of Afghanistan to forge their own destiny, as a product of their own will, in their own time, not ours. Last, we must respect the will of the American people, who are growing ever more against this war. The beauty of democracy, is that it allows the people of a free nation to chart their own course, right or wrong. All to often democracy is treated as a fluffy concept used to mollify the people while controlling them at the same time. Both as governors and governed it is crucial to not only claim to embrace democracy, but to practice it as well. In the latter half of 20th century, and into the 21st, America has done an especially good job of failing to do this. However, it is never to late to break out of the complacency we have allowed to creep into our lives, and reclaim the reigns of our national destiny.

*Special thanks to my friend Bob Schultz, whose willingness to engage in dialogue is appreciated