What the hell were they thinking?
When the U.S. went into Afghanistan - ostensibly to route the Taliban and hunt down Osama Bin Laden - they did so with little more in the way of planning than "kill the bad guys." How they expected to be able to identify good guys from bad guys in a foreign country was a lesson lost on them in the debacle of Vietnam. Having watched the Afghans stave off the U.S.S.R. for years, one would think that the U.S.A., and later, NATO and the UN, would have a more concrete plan in terms of dealings with the Afghan people. Nope. Just send in the military, shoot to kill, and hope for the best. Clever...
Canada now finds itself involved in Afghanistan, watching as our brave sons and daughters risk their lives trying to make a positive difference. It's hard to hear, see, or read on the news that more soldiers have been killed (CBC report and BBC report) doing their jobs. It is their job, however, and they face it with courage and dedication we should admire and support - irrespective of whether we support the political shenanigans that put them in harm's way.
There is no clear way to defeat an enemy that has no respect for the so-called rules of war, nor has any respect for life itself. The Taliban established themselves as dire opponents of human rights during their rule over Afghanistan. They readily killed their own people, locked women away from the world and out of careers and independent lives, forced children into indoctrination, and ruled with an iron fist and a hateful mind. The Taliban and their kind are an oppressive, hateful group of people who have perverted one of the world's great religions, and seek only to impose their will upon the rest of the world, as far as they are able to do so.
If other nations do not stand up against this kind of abhorrent violence and oppression, then they allow the roots to grow deeper and the seeds to spread - even as they are doing now. The world can choose to look the other way and to allow evil to spread, or it can take action and hope to contain it. The truth is that as long as there are humans, there will be evil humans, and we must do what we can to limit their ability to pollute and poison the world.
Canada now finds itself involved in Afghanistan, watching as our brave sons and daughters risk their lives trying to make a positive difference. It's hard to hear, see, or read on the news that more soldiers have been killed (CBC report and BBC report) doing their jobs. It is their job, however, and they face it with courage and dedication we should admire and support - irrespective of whether we support the political shenanigans that put them in harm's way.
There is no clear way to defeat an enemy that has no respect for the so-called rules of war, nor has any respect for life itself. The Taliban established themselves as dire opponents of human rights during their rule over Afghanistan. They readily killed their own people, locked women away from the world and out of careers and independent lives, forced children into indoctrination, and ruled with an iron fist and a hateful mind. The Taliban and their kind are an oppressive, hateful group of people who have perverted one of the world's great religions, and seek only to impose their will upon the rest of the world, as far as they are able to do so.
If other nations do not stand up against this kind of abhorrent violence and oppression, then they allow the roots to grow deeper and the seeds to spread - even as they are doing now. The world can choose to look the other way and to allow evil to spread, or it can take action and hope to contain it. The truth is that as long as there are humans, there will be evil humans, and we must do what we can to limit their ability to pollute and poison the world.
posted by Bruce Brososky at 3:59 PM
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