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| Afghanistan is a nation with an interesting history - which can be summed up as attempted domination by the rulers of adjoining nations for the past several hundred years.
This state is made up of more than a dozen rather disparate tribal/cultural/linguistic groups with only one over-riding similarity. They are almost all Muslims, but even here they are divided among major (Sunni & Shia) and minor denominations within Islam. The tribes do have a web of common Islamic beliefs and culture.
There are two major languages spoken - Dari Persian, and Pashtun - and several minor languages, but many Afghans are bilingual. The government has always (well, almost always) been a traditional rather weak central monarchy with local and area tribal rule. Since Afghanistan has long been a buffer state between unfriendly neighbors (most recently Great Britain and the USSR), the development of a strong central government along with natural resources and industry has lagged well behind its neighbors: Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan.
Our invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was to deny Al Qaeda a safe haven there and seems to have been successful. The Taliban and Al Qaeda seem to have disassociated themselves and less than 100 Al Qaeda fighters remain in Afghan territory - at least according to the CIA.
Currently our policy seems to be to control, disarm and dismember the Taliban so as to prevent its return to power and thus once again provide Al Qaeda with a safe haven. To do this we have attempted to strengthen and encourage the growth of a fairly liberal national government - one which continues the guarantees of personal freedom and civil rights.
There are (at least) two major problems with this policy:
For most of its existence, Afghanistan has not had a strong central government - and when it did have one, that government was seen as repressive; and second, Afghan tribal society tends to be quite conservative and traditional - with traditional Shari'a Islamic law as the basis for moral authority - which runs counter to the civil rights inclusions in the National Constitution, especially women's rights.
To achieve our current stated policy goals we will probably have to deal directly with the local and regional tribal governments - as we ultimately have done in Western Iraq. The real authority in Afghanistan lies with these local authorities but we have not yet resolved how we can breach the considerable moral and cultural beliefs which separate us.
Will the US be willing to back a strong group of regional governing bodies against the Taliban even if these rulers are essentially undemocratic and authoritarian, or must we remain as the central authority enforcing the power of the weak and corrupt central government?
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| Peace, Love, Joy, Happiness. Maybe some of you remember this oft-chanted slogan of the flower children.
Some of them actually meant it but alas, the movement - however influential it was - lacked staying power and the number of practicing "flower children" is greatly diminished.
I was not a flower child - I taught and encouraged them as a young teacher. Unlike my peers, I was delighted by the movement, which I thought had an amazing underlying moral base. Most of my fellow teachers of the time focused on the superficial - long hair, different (or no) clothes, lack of "proper" respect for us elders - who of course knew what was best for them - and all the other inter-generational differences.
The flower children grew up, entered the hard cold world of today and became the likes of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates (not that those two super geeks were ever practicing flower children - but they were surely influenced by the movement).
I like to think they made the world a marginally better place just for having been - they certainly made it uncomfortable for the complacent.
I've tried to keep the peace, love whenever possible, be joyful and happy even during adversity. It really has worked- at least for me  | | |
| I've been thinking about veterans and what it means to be one. Here are a few comments:
I'm a veteran (1951-54, the forgotten war - Korea) - which has never been a big deal to me - most of the males of my generation are veterans. If you didn't volunteer, a board made up of "Your friends and neighbors" volunteered you. Most of us waited to be drafted, but I did not. For reasons which seemed to me to be both sufficient and personal, I enlisted in the Army for a three-year hitch.
During that time I was assigned to an infantry regiment, very briefly to a combat engineer company, and for most of my enlistment, to the Transportation Corps as a maritime instructor (Before enlisting I had been in the merchant marine - I was actually in Korea when the war started).
I very much enjoyed my time in the Army, but it was by no means the high point of my life as it seems to have been with many of my peers. My service did point me toward my life's work (teaching). I was offered several inducements to stay in the Army (Promotion from SGT to SFC, a Warrant, even an offer of a job as a civilian GS-3) but I wanted to go back to college.
The GI Bill of that time along with a couple of scholarships and later a Graduate Assistantship allowed me to stay through graduate school. There were a lot of fellow veterans in my classes; it's been said that we, along with the WW2 vets, changed the American college landscape and American society.
Veterans of wars since then have had it both better and worse - better because the casualty rates were less, worse because combat tours were less well-defined and the civilian attitude toward veterans seems to have been less accepting and concerned.
The advent of "All volunteer" armed services has further separated veterans from the civilian world - there are fewer of them. In my day, as an "RA" - regular army enlisted- I was somewhat of a curiosity among my fellow soldiers.
That RA in front of my serial number did get me some consideration and respect from senior NCOs - which I took full advantage of .
All in all, I'm glad I had the opportunity to serve my country and I'm sure I made a contribution to the success of our efforts in Korea. For many years I stayed in touch with friends I made in the Army - it's surely a place where I came in contact with people I never would otherwise have known - and enriched my life and understanding of our nations culture and society.
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| The Featured Grownups site has a new topic: Seasons' Greetings - A Featured_Grownups writing prompt.
When I was a kid [a very long time ago] the major holidays were anything but times of relaxation and celebration. My mother ran a flower shop and of course the holidays were her busiest time - getting those boquets out the door and delivered required all our help - or at least as much as we could give right on through the holiday.
And as if that wasn't enough at Christmas, my father's job called for him to supervise one of the US's first Christmas Eve yacht parades (late '30s - early '40s). He had to oversee (an often design) the decorations, the route of the parade (Through the major waterways of Miami Beach) and keep the yachts in order and troubleshoot the multitude of last minute problems. If we got home before daylight on Christmas day, we were lucky. That day was spent mostly sleeping.
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| B. What is the nature of criticism? Can one be critical without seeming disagreeable?
To be a critic means many things but the universal nature of criticism is the judgment of the critic of the work or idea being criticised is applied against a standard.
Some critics seem to enjoy being as nasty as possible and raking the author/artist over coals the critic has provided; but criticism is also one of the fundimental methods by which we learn and polish our artistry.
To be critical, means in the most positive terms, to be serious and thoughtful about what you are criticizing.
Most of us can probably remember examples of both sarcastic, vituperitive criticism and criticism delivered in a helpful, even kindly manner - and sometimes both critiques were about the same thing!
Being a critic may be enjoyable, but what makes a "Good Critic"?
Perhaps another interesting question would be: When is criticism called for, when is it not? | | |
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