More thoughts on Afghanistan

I would like to clarify my point about our involvement in Afghanistan_[1]. I feel that it deserves another post because some of the comments to Child Bride do bring up valid points and I want to address those.

Consider the Boot said (in part):

The case in Afghanistan was very different than the situation in Iraq and the rationale differs. But in neither case, did our administration have liberation or human rights on their mind.

Absolutely. There is no doubt in my mind that our government wasn’t thinking “Save the women and children from the hell that is the Taliban.” If that was the case the Taliban would have never gained power in the first place. And, yes, I’m aware that we funded them in their war against the Soviet Union. It’s disgusting to think that we put those people in power because of our fear of the U.S.S.R. I hate that we sell arms and offer aid to oppressive groups for our own gain. I firmly believe that if we’re going to scream “Human Rights!” and “Democracy is on the march!” then we need to apply that in all cases, not just when it benefits us.

We have a sordid history of helping oppressive regimes that enslave women or permit genocide, child abuse, child labor, beatings and killings, mutilations by machetes, etc. Am I ever glad for war? No. Am I glad that in all these tangled lies and post-killing rationalizations that we can find a potential silver lining to this?
Yes.

We’ll see how the American people respond to the efforts to restore Afghanistan. I hear many on both sides saying “What??More money?”

I just want to give you a strong “Amen!” to that one. I don’t want to see any children die- be they 30 minutes old or 30 years old- because of war and government agenda. Unfortunately, the way it’s been going, there’s not a whole lot we can do about it_[2]. But there can be a silver lining. A small sliver of good. I’d gladly see my money go to educating women, girls, and boys_[3] in third world countries- hopefully ending these cycles of violence and death against those very same women and girls. If our invasion of their country did any good at all, I’m hoping that another generation of girls isn’t given away in marriage at the age of 4.

Kvatch said:<

Bush said recently that he fundamentally differed with the left on the issue of the nature of radical Islam. He characterized Islamists as “extremists who want to destroy our way of life by force”. Well, though we may be confident of the “rightness” of our cause, that is exactly what we did in Afganistan and Iraq.

You’re right. But I’m not sad about Afghanistan in the least little bit. We have come to a place in our history when we cannot sit and watch while others are treated with less dignity than cattle, where women are beaten to death for being seen outside of their homes, where girls aren’t even allowed to learn to read their own holy book. If bullshit circumstances_[4] lead us to offer a measure of freedom to an oppressed class of people then I will be glad for that.

For instance, suppose my neighbor has been dealing drugs out of his home and also has a stockpile of bombs and automatic weapons. One day he decides to blow up the post office. Suddenly the ATF and DEA bust down his door to arrest him and notice that his wife is forcing their daughters to make child porn. I would fully expect the government to take those girls and put them somewhere safe, thereby destroying their way of life “by force”. No one would raise a fuss about that. The life that the girls have always known is now gone, but perhaps something better is on the horizon for them. I look at Afghanistan the same way.

This is just my opinion which, like my vote, doesn’t count for much.

By the way, I took Consider the Boot’s advice and visited her blog. She has an excellent piece on this very subject. Sorry it took me so long, but I’m a little out of it this week.

_{[1] Though it seems to be almost forgotten at this point.

[2] Not while this administration in power, at any rate.

[3] Before the men can taint their poor souls.

[4] Bullshit only because our government seems to have forgotten about bin Laden and the real 9/11 connection.}