A country not worth saving?
Tuesday, April 29th, 2014[Note to readers: If you notice problems with fonts, spacings, etc, in the next few posts, be assured that it’s neither your eyes nor your computer. WordPress geeks in their infinite wisdom eliminated the W-button I used to employ to insert post rough drafts from MS Word. I’ve found a temporary fix, but I’m still exploring work-arounds. Apparently, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” isn’t a workplace motto at WordPress where they’ve adopted a policy that users are beta-testers, just like Microsoft, the company they hate. I won’t apologize–they should.]
This question is appropriate when considering Afghanistan. The good Afghans don’t seem capable of standing up to the Taliban. The bad Afghans—and these aren’t the Taliban, who are worse than bad—are poppy farmers and the people like Karzai, who, through graft and corruption, exploit everyone and everything. Karzai bites the hand that feeds him too: he has to know that his life wouldn’t be worth a Russian ruble if the Taliban take over again. And, let’s face it, the Afghan landscape is more desolate than the moon’s; only Iceland’s is worse.
The recent murders of three doctors is but another instance of why we should write Afghanistan off. There are good people there. These doctors were on a mission to help them. One, I believe, had been doing so for seven years. The Taliban don’t care. These doctors were Christians, foreigners, and not supporters of the Taliban’s vicious brand of radical Islam. The Taliban’s ideology is one of death. Doctors, a little girl making appeals for the right of women to educate themselves, and many others who dare to work for peace and a better life and naysay Taliban fanaticism, are targets. They are now claiming they shot down a NATO helicopter (the Pentagon claims this is false—I’m not surprised, because the Taliban would probably take credit if Karzai got a cold).