Continuing this thread on Facebook …
I’ve never been a fan of revisionary, retroactive justifications for war. War is bad, and unintended good side effects may be a consolation, but not justification. And if it wasn’t a reason to attack, it’s not a reason to stay.
Our species seems to be addicted to war and to the absurd concept that it solves problems. I guess if someone attacks you, there’s little choice but self defense. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seem to have very little to do with that.
There are more girls in school, and more girls in the ground too. We did not attack Afghanistan so the girls could go to school. Or so that the Corps of Engineers could improve their infrastructure. Which is also a good thing, I suppose. We attacked to kill Taliban. Now we’re broke and we’ve lost a lost of good people, and it’s time to rethink the plan.
The plight of girls and women in Afghanistan is terrible, but not even a little bit unique. If schools for abused and exploited girls is a reason for war, our next target is China.
There are schools on Native American reservations too. Ask them how they like the Great Republic, overall.
Bush stated his reasons for attacking. Historians will figure out what they were, even if we’ve lost track. But they’re no longer valid, are they? And I’m not saying the countries we Shock and Awe shouldn’t have schools, hospitals, roads, mosques, homes, irrigation, power, broadband, better cemeteries, whatever they want. Least we can do. I’m just saying we shouldn’t make war on their country to give them those things.
I’m not sure Moore has the answers. I damn sure don’t. The Taliban needed killing. But this is a BushCheney failcluster from the words, “bring ‘em on.” (I know, that was Irag, but same difference.) The Taliban aren’t dead, the girls aren’t safe. And there’s little hope they ever will be, without a different approach.
Afghanistan needs real, sane government. So do we. America should be the change we want to see in the world, or sit down and shut the f—k up.
I suspect that if we traveled to Afghanistan and asked the girls how they enjoy school, they might say it would have been better to help them have school without making war on their country. They might remind us of what all children know:
War Is Evil.
