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Posts Tagged ‘Afghanistan’

Sebastian Junger, author of “The Perfect Storm” and “Restrepo”, has created a documentary in tribute to the photography, Tim Hetherington who filmed the video for the documentary version of “Restrepo”. Hetherington was killed in 2011 while accompanying a band of rebels in Libya. Junger’s documentary, “Which Way Is The Front Line From Here” is currently showing on HBO.

While being interviewed about the documentary by Terry Gross on her NPR show, “Fresh Air”, Junger spoke about how he had been at home in Massachusetts when the bombs went off at the Patriot’s Day marathon. He described how he was having a conversation about the attack with a friend when, all of a sudden, he zoned out and his mind transported him back to a vivid recollection of battle scene which he’d witnessed in Afghanistan. The tastes, the sounds, the smells, the emotions of that battle washed over him as though he were actually back at that place at that point in time. The experience lasted for only a few moments and then Junger snapped back into reality.

As I listened to Sebastian Junger describe his experience, I wondered how many other Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans were in Boston that day or in Watertown during the Friday morning shootout, if they experienced similar reactions and, if they did, what the impact of those reactions might be on their lives and the lives of those with whom they live.

In his book The Greatest Minds and Ideas Of All Time, Will Durant wrote that the Christian Age “seems to be approaching its close” while the Islamic religion is “still growing in numbers and strength”. I recall when the Soviet Union collapsed back in the early 1990s thinking that it seemed likely that the rivalry which replaced Democracy vs. Communism would be Christianity vs. Islam: western culture vs. eastern culture. It just seemed logical. Of course, the problems aren’t caused by the vast majority of those who follow the prophet Mohammed nor with the followers of Jesus Christ. It’s the whack job fanatics who create the crises we face today.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the U.S. faces some tough decisions. Do we commit more troops and possibly follow in the footsteps of the Russians and the British failures? Current polls indicate that the majority of Americans oppose sending in more troops. But as the world’s defender of freedom, do we have a moral responsibility to stayand help Afghanistan’s people thwart the Taliban?

Scott Simon, who was a journalist in Afghanistan eight years ago when the Taliban was in power and al Qaeda (or al-Qaida) used the country as its base of operations, makes some relevant points in this commentary http://bit.ly/SSimon

Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden and his cronies remain just over the border in Pakistan and remain a factor in the Afghanistan equation. In this interview with U.S. News & World Report, Howard Clark talks about How You Can Kill al Qaeda (in 3 easy steps) http://bit.ly/HClark

It seems pretty obvious that we should be cautious about committing too many American troops in Afghanistan and that the troops who are deployed there should be focused on thwarting the Taliban while building trust and credibility to win the hearts and minds of the people. Some of us will question if we can afford to do this but can we afford not to?