Foreign relations are seldom a pretty business and what could better make this point than what the United States faces in Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai’s government is filthy corrupt. His brother is a notorious drug lord. His government does little governing but mostly wheeling and dealing.
Making matters worse was the results of the recent national elections that Karzai won but reports of massive corruption were widely noted forcing a runoff election. Runner up Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the race indicating that the race was fixed and that the IEC (International Elections Commission) was biased to favor Karzai. The Taliban promised retribution against anyone participating in the election which surely would result in substantial murder regardless of what the Allied forces could do to prevail.
Given no competition, the runoff election has been cancelled and Karzai declared winner. As our military forces desperately need more resources and manpower, defending what appears to be a total farce of a government seems untenable.
The correct perspective is that the United States and its allies are fighting against the Taliban and Al Qaeda to destroy their ability to launch terrorist campaigns. Never mind the horrible abuses and outright torture against the Afghan people the Taliban inflicted when in power including the complete oppression of women kept out of the job market and school existing as little more than slaves of their male family members. The image of the burka, little more than a burlap sack from head to toe with a little mesh area allowing some visibility, stands as symbol of the outrageous cruelty of the most wicked bastardization of the Islamic religion.
In world affairs, circumstances don’t always provide “good” allies. In Afghanistan, we have little more than a convenient and situational relationship supporting the Karzai government which our military action set the stage to be elected. How much hope the civilized world afforded Hamid Karzai upon his election in 2002. He had a worldly and exotic charm that projected a calming aura as if he were the face of a more civilized and ready to move forward Afghani nation.
The truth is most of Afghanistan is ungovernable. There is no unifying infrastructure, almost no presence of a working legal system, and a population that functions more within the context of tribes and other smaller subdivisions who have little sense of any Afghan nation.
Like it or not, though, our destiny brings us to the mountainous region along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, a miserable land of wicked tribes and practitioners of the most extreme form of Islam. Given the geographical isolation and lack of any controlling government, here’s where the forces of evil can develop their campaigns of terror launched at the rest of the world as witnessed in major cities throughout Western Europe and the attacks on New York and the Pentagon on 9/11/01.
Our nation and its allies must set forth that the mission is not complete until the terrorist entities best demonstrated by Al Qaeda are completely destroyed. We must accept that this will be accomplished through brute force killing as many individuals involved in terror as possible. There is no “kiss and be nice” talky-talk solution.
While the United States must always work to take the high road to exhibit exemplary conduct in its world affairs, war is a dirty business and we must realize that for the best institutions the world has to offer to survive, very tough decisions including appearing to “dance with the devil” must be considered.
President Barack Obama is either too bound to an unrealistic idealistic vision of foreign affairs or is simply too naïve to realize what’s at stake and what needs to be done. Without further delay, “dithering,” and endless analysis, he must support our military operation with all effort and priority focused on absolute victory. There is no room for anything less.
Making matters worse was the results of the recent national elections that Karzai won but reports of massive corruption were widely noted forcing a runoff election. Runner up Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the race indicating that the race was fixed and that the IEC (International Elections Commission) was biased to favor Karzai. The Taliban promised retribution against anyone participating in the election which surely would result in substantial murder regardless of what the Allied forces could do to prevail.
Given no competition, the runoff election has been cancelled and Karzai declared winner. As our military forces desperately need more resources and manpower, defending what appears to be a total farce of a government seems untenable.
The correct perspective is that the United States and its allies are fighting against the Taliban and Al Qaeda to destroy their ability to launch terrorist campaigns. Never mind the horrible abuses and outright torture against the Afghan people the Taliban inflicted when in power including the complete oppression of women kept out of the job market and school existing as little more than slaves of their male family members. The image of the burka, little more than a burlap sack from head to toe with a little mesh area allowing some visibility, stands as symbol of the outrageous cruelty of the most wicked bastardization of the Islamic religion.
In world affairs, circumstances don’t always provide “good” allies. In Afghanistan, we have little more than a convenient and situational relationship supporting the Karzai government which our military action set the stage to be elected. How much hope the civilized world afforded Hamid Karzai upon his election in 2002. He had a worldly and exotic charm that projected a calming aura as if he were the face of a more civilized and ready to move forward Afghani nation.
The truth is most of Afghanistan is ungovernable. There is no unifying infrastructure, almost no presence of a working legal system, and a population that functions more within the context of tribes and other smaller subdivisions who have little sense of any Afghan nation.
Like it or not, though, our destiny brings us to the mountainous region along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, a miserable land of wicked tribes and practitioners of the most extreme form of Islam. Given the geographical isolation and lack of any controlling government, here’s where the forces of evil can develop their campaigns of terror launched at the rest of the world as witnessed in major cities throughout Western Europe and the attacks on New York and the Pentagon on 9/11/01.
Our nation and its allies must set forth that the mission is not complete until the terrorist entities best demonstrated by Al Qaeda are completely destroyed. We must accept that this will be accomplished through brute force killing as many individuals involved in terror as possible. There is no “kiss and be nice” talky-talk solution.
While the United States must always work to take the high road to exhibit exemplary conduct in its world affairs, war is a dirty business and we must realize that for the best institutions the world has to offer to survive, very tough decisions including appearing to “dance with the devil” must be considered.
President Barack Obama is either too bound to an unrealistic idealistic vision of foreign affairs or is simply too naïve to realize what’s at stake and what needs to be done. Without further delay, “dithering,” and endless analysis, he must support our military operation with all effort and priority focused on absolute victory. There is no room for anything less.
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