AFGHANISTAN: The options are bleak...

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I questioned before about the need to continue the Afghanistan War when a victory, even a partial victory (whatever that could mean) would probably be impossible.

The U.S. military says that if they can help create an Afghan army that could keep the Taliban and al-Qaeda at bay, they would have achieved a major objective of the war.

Yesterday, ABC News reported that among the Afghan army trainees we are training to become competent and reliable soldiers, 95% are illiterate and cannot read in their own language and 98% cannot drive or operate vehicles. I guess the Taliban must have taken all the smart ones since they are winning the war.

Here is the kicker, only a few of the trainees want to learn how to read so what are you going to do about that?

Someone once said that to bring the Afghan people out of their darkness and into the light of modernity was to educate all the women which is strictly forbidden under the Taliban. The rationale is that once you educate all the women, they will in turn, educate their whole family; an idea that may have some merit although I don’t know how realistic a plan like that is.

Well anyway, it appears that if we want an Afghan army to succeed, we must teach them the very basics we all assume every one has learned by the time they reach adulthood. I suppose this a good thing for their society and can only benefit the people in Afghanistan in the long run but what the hell do we do in the short run; how fast can we teach Afghans to read Afghan?

Another plea to not leave Afghanistan the way it is came from the women of Afghanistan as well as the world. TIME Magazine had a horrific picture of an Afghan girl (18) on the cover with her nose and ears cut off by a husband and his family that were not getting the service they needed out of her and for the fact that she ran away (due to abuse).

The Time story delved into the status of girls and women under the Taliban and what would happen if the U.S. abandons Afghanistan or leaves it with a weak, corrupt government. I think everyone feels for these females but what can we really do given the history of the country and its people?

I don’t know now but may have ideas later…

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