The Afghanistan Abyss

OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Afghanistan Abyss, By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, Published: September 6, 2009
Sending more American troops into ethnic Pashtun areas in the Afghan south may only galvanize local people to back the Taliban. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/opinion/06kristof.html

This is sounding so familiar; the military trying so earnestly & valiantly to fulfill a flawed & mis-handled mission given it given it by Idiot - Bush. The opportunity for modest success disappeared when The Idiot went to Iraq.

It's time for more AP photos that show the true costs of this mis-handled mission. In large part it was the photo journalists' work in Vietnam that let us measure cost/sacrifice/benefit ratios. Lt. Calley was convicted for the murder of civilians; we saw the images. Once again, we need to see pics of the children, women & men; maimed and killed by our air strikes, when whole Afghan villages are leveled. Ask questions. Require answers. Hold accountable.

Remember the Vietnamese girl running toward the photographer, mouth wide open in a scream? I do; can't forget.

Read this piece by Thomas Friedman: OP-ED COLUMNIST
From Baby-Sitting to Adoption, By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, Published: September 6, 2009
After eight years of work in Afghanistan, we still do not have a reliable Afghan partner to hand off to. It’s time to discuss if nation building is still worth doing and at what cost: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/opinion/06friedman.html.

Then google Malalai Joya and read some of her bio and her speeches. Watch the dvd "View From a Grain of Sand". And then speak out and act.

I remember Vietnam. I lived then. Echoes of that past return.