“It takes little talent to see clearly what lies under one’s nose, a good deal of it to know in which direction to point that organ.”
-- W.H. Auden 1907-73; “The Dyer’s Hand” (1963)
Folks, imagine sending your 18 year old to destroy a meth lab in Tijuana, or a remote cocaine production operation in Colombia, or a drug warehouse in East St. Louis, or Detroit. This is Obama’s plan for Afghanistan. If you want to know what’s going on over there, read the dispatches in the NYT by Dexter Filkins: “American commanders are planning to cut off the Taliban’s main source of money, the countries multimillion-dollar opium crop, by pouring thousands of troops [20 thousand, to be exact] into the three provinces that bankroll much of the group’s operations.” Good luck, Barack. Read your Kipling.
I guess my idea of de-criminalizing, if not legalizing, hard drugs, as a way of cutting off the Taliban’s funding, is too preposterous to entertain. And oh, by the way, this might also be a strategy to end the menace of the Mexican drug cartels, and the incursion of their influence in the United States.
The West’s insatiable opiate addiction is not only a political sin in that it funds terror, it is also a moral sin in that it compounds the misery of the Afghani people. Filkins writes, “Afghanistan, the world’s largest producer of Opium, is drowning in a sea of its own making. [Here I would disagree with Filkin’s, since Europe and the United States are complicit in fueling the cultivation of poppys.] While the country’s narco-traffickers ship vast quantities of the stuff to Europe and the U.S., enough of it stays behind to offer a cheap and easy temptation to the people at home”(NYT 5/6/09). Lynsey Addario’s photos of a 20 year old mother smoking opium in front of her children is heartbreaking.
-- W.H. Auden 1907-73; “The Dyer’s Hand” (1963)
Folks, imagine sending your 18 year old to destroy a meth lab in Tijuana, or a remote cocaine production operation in Colombia, or a drug warehouse in East St. Louis, or Detroit. This is Obama’s plan for Afghanistan. If you want to know what’s going on over there, read the dispatches in the NYT by Dexter Filkins: “American commanders are planning to cut off the Taliban’s main source of money, the countries multimillion-dollar opium crop, by pouring thousands of troops [20 thousand, to be exact] into the three provinces that bankroll much of the group’s operations.” Good luck, Barack. Read your Kipling.
I guess my idea of de-criminalizing, if not legalizing, hard drugs, as a way of cutting off the Taliban’s funding, is too preposterous to entertain. And oh, by the way, this might also be a strategy to end the menace of the Mexican drug cartels, and the incursion of their influence in the United States.
The West’s insatiable opiate addiction is not only a political sin in that it funds terror, it is also a moral sin in that it compounds the misery of the Afghani people. Filkins writes, “Afghanistan, the world’s largest producer of Opium, is drowning in a sea of its own making. [Here I would disagree with Filkin’s, since Europe and the United States are complicit in fueling the cultivation of poppys.] While the country’s narco-traffickers ship vast quantities of the stuff to Europe and the U.S., enough of it stays behind to offer a cheap and easy temptation to the people at home”(NYT 5/6/09). Lynsey Addario’s photos of a 20 year old mother smoking opium in front of her children is heartbreaking.
In Afghanistan, a country wracked by poverty where the tribal population lives by 13th Century standards, more and more rural children are being schooled in Madrassas. There is no instruction in history, geography, or mathematics. Instead, the day is spent studying the Koran and Koranic law. Couple this ideological indoctrination with the mounting indiscriminate killings of Afghan civilians by United States bombing raids and you have a recipe for disaster. Trust me on this: these budding insurgents are not future party-store owners. In the 5/6/ NYT, Carlotta Gall reports that, “Enraged villagers brought an estimated 30 bodies, including those of women and children, from their district to the capital of Farah Province to show officials….Villagers accounts put the death toll at 70 to 100.” Not only are we not winning the hearts and minds of the populace, we’re driv
ing them into the arms of the Taliban for food, shelter, and indoctrination. "One villager, sayed Ghusuldin Agha desribed body parts littered around the landscape. 'It would scare a man if he saw it in a dream.'"
ing them into the arms of the Taliban for food, shelter, and indoctrination. "One villager, sayed Ghusuldin Agha desribed body parts littered around the landscape. 'It would scare a man if he saw it in a dream.'" And what about Pakistan? It’s done. The technocrat class, doctors, teacher’s lawyers, and engineers in the cities will flee the country once the insurgency overwhelms the cities. Here's Filkins: "Hundreds first, then, thousand; tattered, woebegone, well dressed...nearly all of them lost and bewildered and wondering what fate awaited them next....The refugees...are fleeing the battles that are now unfolding across a 50 mile arc northwest of the Pakistani capital....Government officials say that about 40,000 people have already left and that a half million might ultimately be forced to run."
Know this, Pakistan has nuclear weapons. How about some good old Yogi Berra déjà vu all over again? Also recall when, in a reference to Viet Nam, Rummy said he doesn’t do quagmire. Most of you can remember when the U.S. trusted the ARVN (South Vietnamese Army) to defend the south from the Viet Cong and NVA, well this is exactly what’s taking place in Pakistan. We’ve put our faith in the Pakistan army to take back the provinces where the Taliban are in control. How strong is this fighting force? Not very. They lack the training and ideological commitment to fend off the insurgents. Add to this the fact that the Pakistani government won’t reveal where the WMDs are for fear that the Americans might pre-emptively destroy these sites and we’ve got trouble, a fundamentalist theocratic state with nuclear weapons. And how will India, having its own nuclear arsenal react to this. Look out.
Not having taken a careful look at what happened to the British at the turn of the last century, and blindly ignoring the fact that the Russians couldn’t prevail in Afghanistan, Obama is making a foolish, and tragic, mistake.
By the way, my scans were clear. I now go to a 6-month checkup schedule.
Peace - Randy
Not having taken a careful look at what happened to the British at the turn of the last century, and blindly ignoring the fact that the Russians couldn’t prevail in Afghanistan, Obama is making a foolish, and tragic, mistake.
By the way, my scans were clear. I now go to a 6-month checkup schedule.
Peace - Randy
1 comment:
At least this post has some good news. Congratulations on the clear scan & the bump-up to a 6 month schedule.
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