Monday, October 6, 2008

Peace in Afghanistan?

Sources: Taliban split with al Qaeda, seek peace

This was very encouraging news this morning. This is exactly the kind of event that could possibly bring about true peace in Afghanistan, and the current administration and the people of the U.S. should be behind these talks 100%. We're not going to be able to bring peace to Afghanistan or Iraq militarily, which seems to be our current strategy. The reality is that "we" aren't going to bring peace at all. We need to encourage the Afghanis and Iraqis, along with their neighbors, to look for a long term strategy for governance and peace that is driven mainly by themselves.

The days of imperialism and costly nation-building are over. We should definitely do everything we can to assist the Afghani and Iraqi people in drafting constitutions, setting up governments, or consulting on governance issues, but we should not remain there to play the role of world police. With the current economic crisis the American people cannot afford these costly mistakes and it's apparent that the majority of the people who actually live in these countries don't want us there.

Leaving would kill two birds with one stone.

I'm not encouraging a sudden pull-out, but more so a comprehensive strategy with a flexible time table that will allow us to responsibly bring our troops home and transfer government and order to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The hubris we exhibit by pretending that we know how to run everyone else's country needs to go the way of the dinosaurs.

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