(AP photo of Cedar Falls, Iowa)How much is enough? It is now costing the United States $4 billion per month to keep the Taliban at bay in Afghanistan. That might be a bargain, but the effort has not been all that successful. In certain areas of Afghanistan, the Taliban rule. If the goal was to remove the Taliban from the country, or at least erase their influence, we have failed.
Four billion dollars a month! That's merely money. There's also the human cost: The dead, the wounded, and the destruction of a country.
Now, according to an AP report out of Paris, the Bush administration wants to send another $10 billion to Afghanistan over a period of two years "for development and related aid." How's that for obscure language: "development and related aid"?
"Afghan leaders hope to raise $15 billion to $20 billion in immediate help for their desperately poor, war-scarred nation." I'll bet they do. The problem is that "development and related aid" stuff. What does that mean? Who gets the money? How, exactly, will that money be spent?
From previous experience, it is difficult to have confidence in the desire and ability of the poohbahs of Kabul to use this money wisely and in the manner intended.
There is no question that Afghanistan is a poor, war-scarred nation. There is no question that Afghanistan needs help. The question is will this $10 billion really help those who need help?
And I can't seem to forget that the damage caused by Katrina continues to claim more victims. The city has not been rebuilt. People are still not back in their homes. The area is still poor and hurricane-scarred.
From todays news reports, it appears we have another disaster rising in Iowa and Minnesota as flood waters claim land and homes: a disaster which may require the resources of our government.
When will the Bushites turn their "compassion" on our own citizens? To give $10 billion to the Afghan leaders for "development and related aid" is not much different than throwing the money up in the air on a windy day. Maybe some of that could be used in places like New Orleans and the Midwest?
1 comment:
I wish our Congress would or could tell us what is really going on in Afghanistan. The Taliban came back in force and we were unprepared. Is it our military or our civilian warriors or both? We simply do not know. We now hear talk of a possible military action re Iran from these same people. They might be wonderful and nothing more can be done or they might be as inefficient and mistaken in goals and procedures. We do not know. We had better find out before we are so weak that we cannot respond when needed. Our military is having trouble and we do not see it being rebuilt. A draft is not even on the table and recruitments cannot build back up in the short term. It takes time and money to build new recruits into first class warriors.
We will not be able to pull enough men and equipment out of Iraq in a hurry, regardless on need. What are the answers and who knows them and who will implement them? Our economy is booming according to a handful of optimists but Katrina, fuel, food, shelter, infrastructure, education etc are all problems that must be addressed with a drop in tax income at local levels.
What will either candidate do to change any or all of the problems? What will our current administration do today to even debate the problems? We have six months of doing nothing while we keep on spending our manpower and treasure. It is time for the media and the pundits to start asking the questions and get off the “gotcha” news re unimportant gaffes or gossip. There was an attempt to impeach that got little or no converge on TV. The Senate Report of event leading up to the war has already been buried. Why not just turn the media over to entertainment and let us go downhill with a smile?
Bob Poris
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