“You have to join the side you’re on.”
Midge Decter
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Is Afghanistan Worth It?
Here is an article by an Afghani—identification verified by a US Navy officer in Afghanistan—that talks to the issue from the Afghani point of view. I was moved by the piece.
Worth it to who? If a society wants to be free...whatever THAT means.....that society can make that goal a reality. AND...it can do so rather rapidly. But, like welfare in the US, all we are doing with our foreign policy is to encourage dependency on our largesse.....particularly...in the largesse of our blood.
As a career military professional, I signed up to do what my bosses tell me...and I will honor that contract. After all...it is simply a financial quid pro quo......an act of mercenary contract. BUT....I would strenuously resist my sons or my grandchildrens' participation in what is little more than a political pay off for a privileged elite.
As with Viet Nam.....the litmus test for any and everything America does militarily, America could care less about whether our interventions benefits Hung Lo in his isolated rice paddy. If he fares well because of something we do.....wow...that is great. If not...."oh well." Its all about the Perfumed Princes...and the benefits accrued to the members of the force.
Worth it to who? If a society wants to be free...whatever THAT means.....that society can make that goal a reality. AND...it can do so rather rapidly. But, like welfare in the US, all we are doing with our foreign policy is to encourage dependency on our largesse.....particularly...in the largesse of our blood.
ReplyDeleteAs a career military professional, I signed up to do what my bosses tell me...and I will honor that contract. After all...it is simply a financial quid pro quo......an act of mercenary contract. BUT....I would strenuously resist my sons or my grandchildrens' participation in what is little more than a political pay off for a privileged elite.
As with Viet Nam.....the litmus test for any and everything America does militarily, America could care less about whether our interventions benefits Hung Lo in his isolated rice paddy. If he fares well because of something we do.....wow...that is great. If not...."oh well." Its all about the Perfumed Princes...and the benefits accrued to the members of the force.