I’ll make this brief.We are not the first nation to tackle Afghanistan, and we will likely not be the last.
As a nation, America is accustomed to fighting wars with other nations.
Posts Tagged: Afghanistan
7
May 09
Tortured Logic
Yet more news that everyone should have expected by now (Rawstory via Crooks and Liars)[Full report, PDF]:
In all, 98 detainees have died while in US hands. Thirty-four homicides have been identified, with at least eight detainees – and as many as 12 – having been tortured to death, according to a 2006 Human Rights First report that underwrites the researcher’s posting. The causes of 48 more deaths remain uncertain.
The researcher, John Sifton, worked for five years for Human Rights Watch. In a posting Tuesday, he documents myriad cases of detainees who died at the hands of their US interrogators. Some of the instances he cites are graphic.
How did we get here? More importantly, how is it that we accept ‘here’ as being morally, legally, and ethically acceptable?
31
Jan 09
One Missing Arizona Cardinal
While you are watching the game tomorrow, keep in mind that one of those Cardinals are missing.
24
Dec 08
Oh, this will end well…
It’s almost as if we (in this case, the Pentagon) are incapable of learning (via NYTimes):
Taking a page from the successful experiment in Iraq, American commanders and Afghan leaders are preparing to arm local militias to help in the fight against a resurgent Taliban. But along with hope, the move is raising fears here that the new armed groups could push the country into a deeper bloodletting.
The militias will be deployed to help American and Afghan security forces, which are stretched far and wide across this mountainous country. The first of the local defense forces are scheduled to begin operating early next year in Wardak Province, an area just outside the capital where the Taliban have overrun most government authority.
If the experiment proves successful, similar militias will be set up rapidly across the country, senior American and Afghan officials said.
We will ensure that Allah stocks heaven with virgins and martyrs (and US citizen soldiers) for generations to come.
2
Jul 08
Hero Worship.
A couple of semesters ago, I read a Businessweek article on Home Depot then-CEO Bob Nardelli’s plan to turn around Home Depot. BW glowingly reported on Nardelli’s personnel changes and differing style, with his strong preference for hiring former-military persons in key rolls. Anecdotally speaking, a masters program classmate who was also a Naval Academy graduate mentioned that Home Depot had indeed made a push for hiring employees who were formerly Officer Grade to run their stores, casting the opportunity as entrepreneurial. Businessweek gave several hints as to what was coming in their description of Nardelli’s style:
23
Aug 07
Daily Links
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The 103-page document [...] takes lessons from the last six years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan to outline Air Force policies in “a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations.”
10
Aug 07
Stu Bykofsky is RIGHT. But free speech does have consequences in the marketplace?
AND he should be fired for this nonsense :
America's fabric is pulling apart like a cheap sweater.
What would sew us back together?
Another 9/11 attack.
[...]
Is there any doubt they are planning to hit us again?
If it is to be, then let it be. It will take another attack on the homeland to quell the chattering of chipmunks and to restore America's righteous rage and singular purpose to prevail.
The unity brought by such an attack sadly won't last forever.
The first 9/11 proved that. *
E-mail stubyko@phillynews.com or call 215-854-5977. For recent columns:
This last 6-years has been a slow-motion train wreck. OBL is still on the loose. The Anthrax attackers are still on the loose. We're stuck in a quagmire in a war of choice in Iraq, losing a winnable war in Afghanistan, and then contemplating opening a third front of the Great War on Terror in Iran (and Pakistan).
I'm tired of staring into the abyss. In addition to the 3000 lives lost on 9/11 and the near 5000 (3600 military deaths, and an estimated 1000 contractor deaths) in Iraq and Afghanistan, we can chalk up threats to free speech, habeas corpus, our own privacy, and any semblance for advocacy for the middle class in Washington. We are distracted from true threats like class inequality, our aging infrastructure, precarious financial environment, and global warming with bright and shiny objects like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, and divisive social wedge issues like abortion, gay marriage, and evolution.
Although Bykofsky takes the easy way out and (correctly) states that another 9/11 would finally unite us, he's correct, but I hope he's thinking of the wrong outcome. He thinks that another 9/11 would would cause us to put aside our partisan differences to get "it" done – I'm assuming by "it" he means the War on Islamofacism. But there's danger in these thoughts. With the right proudly proclaiming that we are safer BECAUSE there have been no new attacks, another 9/11 might have the complete opposite consequences – reinforces the disgust and despair many of us are feeling towards our media and political institutions.
The next-9/11 will preceed one of two outcomes – either the police state, or the beginning of the American Renaissance, where we cast of the dead weight and corrupt institutions of the past and become the America we thought, hoped, and dreamed we were.
Should Bykofsky get fired? Should free speech have consequences? Vote here.
