BELIEFS AND VALUES WILL NOT SUCCUMB TO MILITARY MIGHT

     So, let’s see. How many billions did we sink into saving Wall Street? Why didn’t we just bomb that street? Why didn’t we just arm the folks in the surrounding neighborhoods, the musicians in the subway, the homeless folks, the construction workers at the site of 911? Why didn’t we just send in the National Guard? Oops, how about the MARINES! Of course, it doesn’t make any sense to do any of that. So we save Wall Street with what Wall Street needs. CASH! MONEY! AND LOTS OF IT!

     I’m not a big historian, just enough of one, to know there are big pictures which are important to grasp in order to "get" history and maybe learn something, anything, from history. How is it, for example, that many of the "dictators" we have fought against in the last hundred years were initially our allies? How does that work?

     In the last sixty years, we have watched powerhouse after powerhouse go down in defeat because we still do not get it. Wars about beliefs and values, just like the one in 1776, cannot be won with weaponry no matter how sophisticated or crude.

     Why doesn’t the French defeat in Viet Nam, our own defeat in Viet Nam, our inability to really accomplish anything in the Persian gulf, the Russians defeat in Afghanistan haunt us? How sad that people living in Iraq are worse off now than they were when Sadam was in power. Who’s taking responsibility for that? Certainly not the insurgents! How come we don’t learn from our own history. How come we are compelled to take on losing battles?

     So how come we continue to look at Afghanistan with such blind eyes? How come we still don’t get it? The determination and loyalty of Tribes and Tribal leaders, who have been around for a VERY LONG TIME,.the conviction of religious beliefs and values that have also been entrenched for a VERY LONG TIME, will not be subdued our military might. In particular, we will never defeat the Taliban militarily. Why don’t we know that? Why don’t we get it that we could defeat the Taliban? By providing the people of Afghanistan with what they need and desire most. Does anyone even know what that is? Not what America needs and wants for Afghanistan, but what Afghanistan wants and needs.

     It seems to me that I’ve heard that one of the few ways you can make money in Afghanistan is by growing poppies. Is that true? That problem will not go away by getting rid of the Taliban. By the way, do any of us know who the Taliban are? How did they rise to power, and how have they resurged? What is attractive about the Taliban to Afghanistan? For one, "fighting" is a form of employment! Even in America, many young Americans join the military as a way to get a job. In Afghanistan, when the Taliban are in power, they need to hire lots of folks to keep the peace and to police the strictest interpretation of Sharia law. In short, the Taliban are hiring--providing jobs. Hello! I know it is not quite that simple, but making a living in Afghanistan IS a big item. The Taliban provides for that need We could also CAPITALIZE on that need and make more inroads providing cash and jobs (and doing a better job of it than the Taliban) than fighting the Taliban.

     What  if, what if, what if, instead of sending soldiers and weapons, we sink all those billions of dollars directly into Afghanistan in the form of CASH?.

     Have we ever considered inviting American Islamic leaders to join together and go to Afghanistan and begin "teaching" their fellow Muslims how to make a living doing something other than growing poppies or joining the Taliban? Have we considered inviting Afghanistan Tribal leaders to America to learn from American farmers and American industrialists how to grow their own economy?

     I know it sounds all so idealistic. But what about the coffins draped in American flags and the men and women maimed? Perhaps that is idealistic as well to those who BELIEVE and VALUE military solutions to life’s challenges and problems. We’re back to beliefs and values again. But putting our soldiers on the chopping block seems so pointless when, in fact, we are so willing to resolve other "crises" by simply sinking cash into the problem.

     One more thought! Have we ever had a Taliban like group in this country? What about those we used to refer to as the WASP? Were the WASP interested in civil rights, and in particular, the rights of women? I don’t think so. Equality was a threat to WASP economics. Of course, we’ve come a long way! But that’s the point. We are not that much different in our roots than many of the fundamentalist groups we are so determined to wipe out with military force. How do we so quickly forget that military force has never worked. I mean that’s why the United States exists. Military might could not stop the Colonists’ movement to be free of England’s control.  And military force never brought about one iota of change in civil rights in our country.  The change came about from non-violent action.

     Well a few thoughts from my sixty three year old brain. What do you think?

Thanks for reading.