Paternalistic Naivete

Princess Abby, Chihuahua with
abnormal back and legs, one eye closed,
wins ugliest dog contest in California.

Beyond the fact that I believe the “war” in Afghanistan has no justification whatsoever, and the continuation of it makes no sense, there is a strange aura of the surreal that seems to hang over it, I guess you might describe it as a kind of paternalistic naïvete. That is, we are said to be training an Afghan army that will be able to defend itself and the country. It is also sometimes said that the Afghans just don’t seem to learn, they are illiterate, desert, and are unable to do what is required. They sometimes refuse to fight. Given that Afghanistan is known as “the graveyard of empires,” and the Afghans have defeated everyone who attempted to conquer them, it seems odd to me they can’t be trained to be soldiers and policemen. This goes along with the apparent belief that the Afghans cannot govern themselves and they need to be taught how to do so. Personally, I believe all this is nonsense. First, Afghanistan has managed to exist for thousands of years and have successfully repulsed every enemy. They are well-known to be fierce and successful fighters. Second, whatever you may think of the Taliban and Shari’a, do not forget the Taliban successfully organized themselves and restored order to the country after the chaos that ensued when the Russians were driven out. They did not come to power as an anti-American organization and were not, at least at first, our enemies. This was quite a remarkable feat and it implies, to me at least, they are perfectly capable of managing their own affairs. Why we are now fighting them I do not know, they merely want us out of their country. If Afghanistan does not want to be ruled by the Taliban I doubt they will be.

I strongly suspect the so-called “failure” of the Afghan army has to do with the fact they do not wish to fight against their brother Afghans, and they would prefer us to leave and leave them alone. As a tribal and clan-based society they have their own political organization, do not understand democracy and do not want it imposed upon them. Actually, in a sense they do understand democracy, as when the Taliban formed they managed to agree on who the leaders would be and swore allegiance to them. I don’t know that they actually voted as such, but they apparently had little trouble organizing themselves and choosing leaders. I think it is unlikely they are willing to fight very hard to impose a system of government they are not interested in and do not seem to want (or even need).

To acknowledge the political and military success of the Taliban does not mean you have to accept the tenets of Shari’a law, especially when it comes to the treatment of women and the rather extreme rules that are imposed on everyone. But no amount of military force by the U.S. or U.N. is going to change these customs very quickly if at all. I certainly do not approve of their extremely fundamental views, their treatment of women and sometimes boys, the stonings, and whatever. But then, I don’t approve of the treatment of women by some Christian groups either, and full equality between the sexes still does not exist here in the U.S. There are, of course, many problems in Afghanistan, but they are Afghan problems, not ours. We should withdraw as soon as possible, promise aid if and when they ask for it, and help them in any way we can. We have come very close to fulfilling bin Laden’s dream of bankrupting ourselves, enough is more than enough. The military/industrial/political dream of an endless “war,” and our attempt at empire, are about to run their course. We can’t afford it any longer, even if we sacrifice Social Security, Medicare, Public Schools, infrastructure, and everything else that helps make life worth living.

I don’t know what all the fuss about the Gulf is about. Geez, it’s not as if the whole planet is being ruined. Obviously drilling for oil is more important than life itself, and think of all those suffering Oil executives and Congresspersons whose livelihood depends on it. Of course there are all those fisherman, shrimpers, hotelkeepers, bartenders, maids, small businesses, and what-have-you, but who really cares about them. There are always unemployment benefits – or at least there were for a while.

LKBIQ:
“To work in government positions means a life surrounded by corruption and injustice, and therein is found the misery of mankind.”
Abdul Salam Zaeef

TILT:
There are more than 300 distinct breeds of goats.