Advocacy Events Spring 2009

Holocaust Remembrance Week: Holocaust Survivor Jay Ipson (April 23)-Mr. Ipson spoke of his experience surviving for two and half years in the Kuanas ghetto in Lithuania with his mother and father. They escaped and hid from the Hermans for nine months before they were rescued by Soviet soldiers. After all that he has been through he was advocating for tolerance for all races.

Festival Fest (April 18): This was the culmination of a week of eco-awareness and a new concept, how spirituality is tied into the environment. Festival Fest was truly a turn for the spiritual. Though it is a celebration of Earth Day, everyone seemed more focused on the bands and relaxed environment than saving the planet. I thought there would be more of a focus on advocating being eco-friendly and living green. There was a puppet show about global warming and a few people said some things about appreciating the environment, but the unifying theme for the day was to have a really good time and have fun with everyone that was there. I suppose everyone that attended indirectly was raising awareness for the environment. Overall the day was a great success; there was good attendance and the weather cooperated.

31st Annual Communication Exhibition (April 14)- The participants were all very well spoken and conveyed their arguments clearly and concisely. In particular, I appreciated the study of Bush's speech after 9/11. The analysis was thorough and pointed. Bush's speech told the world that America was entering a new era. We are still there and it can and should be argued that Bush's speech was the pivotal point in where we are today.

Take Back the Night (March 24)-I sat on the hill on the Commons and listened to Angela Shelton speak about sexual assault. Take Back the NIght does a great job of promoting Sexual Assault Awareness. Flyers and chalk messages were around campus in the week leading up to and then during the week. It is an extremely important issue and the Office of Sexual Assault and Prevention does a good job.

The Kabul Police... or lack there of.

The Kabul police force is under qualified, underpaid, lacking resources, lacking numbers and is expected to be making a difference in the establishment of Kabul as a legitimate government. Representative Jared Polis of Colorado recently spent 3 days in Kabul. Much to his dismay, he did many things and saw many things from Army bases and behind bulletproof glass while riding to and from the airport. Rep. Polis spoke with one Afghan while in Kabul, the Minister of the Interior, a former Soviet fighter. They spoke about many things but I am going to focus on the state of the police force. The two main problems are understaffing and corruption. There are 1.3 policemen per 1000 residents in Kabul. An average city of Kabul's size has 4 policemen per 1000 people. The massive amount of poppy being grown in Afghanistan is being used to bargain with politicians and police. Policemen make little money so the lure of any money is too much to handle.

How are does the U.S. expect to control Kabul with an amateur police force? More respect has to be given to the lowest level of authority if there is going to be any significant progress in restructuring Kabul and Afghanistan.

Where have all the supplies gone?

Militants in northwestern Pakistan destroyed a U.S. supply depot in Peshawar that resupplies troops in Afghanistan. Attacks have significantly increased since 2008 after militants have gained more control in the Kybher Agency of Pakistan. The Christian Science Monitor reports that over 500 vehicles that run supplies over the border have been destroyed. Furthermore, 70 percent of Western supplies come through that area into Afghanistan.

The U.S. is working on finding another route to resupply troops but all are more expensive and longer. Another route is imperative if the U.S. does not want to be further bankrupted. How much money is lost every time a supply depot is attacked? Morale must also be extremely low for truck drivers. Something has to be done with supply routes if the troops are going to be supplied.

War rugs

Afghan rugs are renown for their colors and scenes depicting life. Whether that be a countryside scene, a wedding, the Twin Towers or AK-47s laced by hand grenades. Many in Kabul and around the country have come to depend on selling these rugs as a main revenue stream. Unfortunately the country's infrastructure has diminished to the point where rugs can no longer be completed in country. Clean water is so sparse that none can be spared to clean the unfinished rugs before they are cut and finished. Weavers have to send their unfinished rugs to Pakistan to be finished, from there they are sold to dealers in California and around the world.

This is the state of things in Afghanistan as reported by an April 12 article in the Canadian News, "War is commodity: Afghan war rugs turn a profit on violence."

Where are you NATO?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization gathered in 1949 to form an alliance against communism. Since the fall of Russia and the end of communism in Europe, NATO has not been called upon to do anything, until 9/11. The alliance rekindled earlier promises and agreed with the United States that ousting the Taliban from Afghanistan was the right thing to do. That was seven years ago.

NATO has not been as dedicated to the efforts of creating a strong Afghanistan as demonstrated by troop levels and funding from nations other than the United States and a few others. The US has 31,000 troops in Afghanistan and is sending 21,000 more this year. NATO has agreed to send 5,000 more troops over as explained in an article by the Associated Press.

With the world clamoring over President Obama and his changing of how the White House deals with foreign nations, perhaps NATO will agree to its side of the deal and show a unified front. If not, I think the US should leave NATO because it appears the alliance is not as strong as it claims to be.

Photo galleries: A glimpse into daily life of Kabul

I found two photo galleries, one dated November 2002, the other is from January 2005. Both show the situation that the Afghans are dealing with.

The first gallery by Vincent Thian gives an up-close-and-personal view of the people and daily life.

The second gallery highlights the terrible conditions that some people are living with in Kabul.

Pictures tell a thousand words. If pictures of this nature are shown throughout the world there would surely be change in Afghanistan to attempt to improve the lives of these people, many of whom lost their homes, limbs and livelihoods because of the US involvement in ousting the Taliban.

Exit plan already?

In a recent article by BBC News, coverage was focused on the fact that President Obama mentioned in an interview about his new strategy in Afghanistan that, "There's got to be an exit strategy. There's got to be a sense that this is not a perpetual drift."

I believe that President Obama was speaking about the amount of troops currently in Afghanistan, and not about the American influence. The American influence is something that should remain long after the soldiers have left. By American influence I am referring to the businesses and diplomats and NGOs that will remain to help build and maintain the country, just as there are these people and organizations in every modern country.

I am not speaking about politics. There should be no more influence on the Afghan government than the United States has on any free country in the Western World.

It is crucial that the US does not allow the country to fall into disarray as it did in the 1980s when the Russians left the country. If it does, the world will be dealing with the same situation as was dealt with when the US invaded Afghanistan in 2002.

New strategy: Afghanistan+Pakistan

Last week, President Obama outlined his new plan to treat the Afghanistan conflict and the issues with Pakistan as one and the same. I can not believe it has taken so long for the White House to officially recognize this. Al Queda has been staging attacks on Kabul and Afghanistan from the tribal areas in Pakistan since the United States kicked them out of the country. There has been more and more coverage from the press of US attacks in Pakistan without any real explanation of how they are doing this without consent from Pakistan. Now that the US (and hopefully the UN) recognizes this there will be a better chance of preventing attacks.

The actual strategy is to give more money to civilian aid agencies. This should improve the quality of life for civilians in war-torn areas, which in turn will help improve relations with the US and decrease the influence of Al Queda and the Taliban. Both the Afghan and Pakistani governments approve of the plan according to an article at KeralaNext.com.

Iran: Friend or Foe?

There has been talks between Afghanistan and Iran to reconcile any misunderstandings and focus on working together to make both countries stronger and safer. Specifically, the countries want to make the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), a Middle Eastern alliance, stronger and more useful. An article from FARS News Agency quotes Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, "Iran is one of the most important countries in the region and one of the closest friends of Afghanistan and we welcome the valuable share Iran intends to contribute to the strengthening of peace in Afghanistan."

Problems arise when the tension between the United States and Iran are brought into the conversation. Iran has been working towards creating nuclear power. The United States is opposed to this because of the threat of nuclear weapons. An article by the BBC outlines the current situation concisely, entitled, "Iran demands change in US Policy." Iran's religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says that if President Obama changes Mr. Bush's stance of Iran being part of the "Axis of Evil" then Iran will change its stance that America is the infidel.

President Obama wants to open lines of diplomacy to Iran, though he extended trade sanctions for another year because of Iran's nuclear program.

This leaves Afghanistan between a rock and a hard place. The country needs help from both sides of the fence. The question becomes, is it possible? I believe both countries will see Afghanistan as an ally and help, regardless of their positions against each other.

Why a military solution? Why not an economic solution?

Molly Moore, senior vice president of Sanderson Strategies was recently quoted in a Politico.com article as saying, “The key question is: How do we get beyond a military solution and figure out a workable economic development plan that will dilute the influence of extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan?’”

I am in accordance with Ms. Moore's view on the situation. If there was enough jobs for the Afghan people then the country as a whole would be more stable. Money makes the world a much better place to live.

When a man cannot afford to feed his family he finds someone to blame. When the blame is placed on an "occupier nation" coupled with religious extremism, the man turns against that nation. If that nation tries to solve the problem by sending soldiers to deal with these hungry and angry people the people will become more enraged. If the nation sends industry to offer jobs to the people and give them a stake in the future of the country, the people become sympathizers.

The U.S. needs sustained support in Afghanistan if it is ever going to extricate itself from the country. A strong economy will create supporters, not detractors.

Losing the faith.

The results of a poll asking if Afghan citizens still had faith in the government was reported on 9 Feb. 09. A mere 40 percent believed that the government was going in the right direction. This is a huge decrease from 77 percent in 2005. The poll also asked if the citizens had faith in the United States. The optimism dropped from 88 percent in 2005 to 47 percent today. (http://abcnews.go.com/WN/International/story?id=6822139&page=1)

The increased fighting has to be a major reason for the drop in confidence but I do not see how it can be blamed on the U.S. Washington is completely behind the struggle militarily and financially. Defeating the Taliban will bring confidence back to the people of Afghanistan. President Obama's 7,000 soldier increase should help. (http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-05-voa75.cfm)

Why Kabul?

I have been interested in Afghanistan since US forces invaded in 2002 and began rebuilding the country. I did not know anything about the area prior to this so I began to do my research. Then I read Kite Runner. Then I met one of the most interesting people in my life, Jawan Shir Rasikh. He is an Afghan that is attending JMU on a Fulbright Scholarship. He has opened my eyes to many things, one of which is the rich history of Afghanistan. So, I am doing my SCOM 342 blog on advocating the importance of the United States to aid in establishing a steady government and economy in Afghanistan. This starts in Kabul because Kabul is the capital. Once Kabul is safe, the rest of Afghanistan will follow suit. I will be blogging about my opinions on current events in Kabul and the importance of positive, long term relations with Afghanistan.