I receive the news that President Obama has approved sending 17,000 additional troops into Afghanistan with great trepidation. So does George McGovern, former Democratic Presidential nominee: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/21/AR2009012102489.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter For an excellent alternative view - see http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070101faessay86105-p10/barnett-r-rubin/saving-afghanistan.html
According to the CIA, Afghanistan, a landlocked mountainous terrain, comprises an area about the size of Texas.
" . . .Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, agriculture, and trade with neighboring countries. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs. Criminality, insecurity, and the Afghan Government's inability to extend rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth. It will probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor aid and attention to significantly raise Afghanistan's living standards from its current level, among the lowest in the world. International pledges made by more than 60 countries and international financial institutions at the Berlin Donors Conference for Afghan reconstruction in March 2004 reached $8.9 billion for 2004-09. While the international community remains committed to Afghanistan's development, pledging over $57 billion at three donors' conferences since 2002, Kabul will need to overcome a number of challenges. Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade generate roughly $3 billion in illicit economic activity and looms as one of Kabul's most serious policy concerns. Other long-term challenges include: budget sustainability, job creation, corruption, government capacity, and rebuilding war torn infrastructure."*
With a population of approximately 33 million, opium is the most significant export in this country with 40 percent unemployment, and 53 percent of it's population living below poverty. Infectious diseases considered to be at high risk are food and waterborne - bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever, malaria and rabies. Over 70 percent of the population are considered to be illiterate, and over 77 percent are believed to reside in rural areas of Afghanistan.
Can 17,000 troops change the hearts and minds of millions?
Source: CIA World Factbook
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3 comments:
Changing the hearts and minds of the Afghan people is not the goal..imo. They have lived this way long before this war. Obama said he wanted Osama and I think that is why he is beefing up the troop count there...to finish what we started many years ago. It would be a feather in his cap to do so. I just hope that we do finish before moving on to something else.
Personally, I think countries like Afghanistan is a lost cause. For the thousands of years of their history, nothing has really changed that much. Tribal life still goes on.
I think that we should finish what we started elsewhere, before we send more troops anywhere. I'm tired of seeing my friends & family going off to a war that seems to have no end, & would hate to see them go off to another seemingly pointless one. I just would like to know when it became our responsibility to take care of the world, when we can't take care of our own country?
I tend to agree with anonymouse, Obama would definately have a feather in his cap if he managed to snag Bin Laden. Which was our primary goal anyway till it got waysided by the threat to the Bush's and their children.
Some countries are not going to change from the way they have lived for thousands of years. Change will not come easy for them, they are used to feast and famine and plan ahead for that to happen.
I don't believe we should change things unless it is to teach them how to enrich their crops more, to keep them in more feast than famine. Otherwise, it's their heritage and their lives. Are we truly making it better for them by coming in there and putting clothes on them, teaching them to speak english, etc? Or are we harming them and their way of life?
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