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August 18, 2004
God Gave Afghanistan Mountains
In May 2004 I went to Afghanistan with a NYC group of 911 first responders called Ground Zero For Peace- First Responders Against War. The group, advocates nonviolence in response to the 9-11 attacks, and hopes to establish an ongoing friendship with Afghan rescue workers.
In 2000 I spent 2 months in Basra, Iraq with Voices in the Wilderness, a campaign to stop the economic sanctions against Iraq, and I can’t help but make comparisons between the two countries.
What is the same is the devastation, unabated over many years. What is the same is the squalor.
What is different—enormously, frighteningly different--- is that the US’s money, energy, and resources obviously go somewhere besides Afghanistan. We know that it is going to Iraq - and why. When we asked our guide’s opinion on this disparity, he smiled, shrugged, and in his quiet voice said, “God gave Afghanistan mountains… God gave Iraq oil.”
While in Afghanistan, it was my good fortune to interview Afghan presidential candidate, Dr. Massuda Jalal. Dr. Jalal turned down an offer from Karzai to be Prime Minister of Afghanistan feeling that it would be a token position, and is continuing her quest for the presidency. She acknowledges that it is highly unlikely that she’ll win. Cultural issues will inhibit a woman’s quest for the highest office in the country, and there is the enormous disparity in funding. The US backs Karzai. Karzai will win.
Through two foreign policy extremes, occupation and desertion, the US imposes its will on the world. The resources it now controls will lead to even greater domination.
Posted by Joe Public at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)