Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 01, 2009

Which government is NOT a kleptocracy?

I like that word, “kleptocracy”. It should be added to the dictionary, that is if it’s not in there already. Moreover, all we are saying is give Shish Kabab a chance,

I’m surprised Trudeau would try to paint the Taliban as some kind of freedom fighter. They do nothing but terrorize and abuse people they get control of.

@Baslim

You’re right, nobody so far in history has succeeded in “controlling” the Afghans for any length of time - they’re probably best left to their own devices, as long as they don’t blow up their neighbours (or the rest of the world).

The Brits tried using Afghanistan as a”buffer state” to protect themselves from the Russians when they were in India (late 19th and early 20th century), but ended up beating a hasty retreat. This is referred to as the Great Game in our history books now.

Cartoonists are not bound to believe eveything their puppet voices say

It’s been said that the Afgans wil never be your ally. They might fight with you against a common enemy, but you’re only “renting” their allegiance.

I’m not wild about Islam as an ideology, but in a world that works for everyone there has to be room for people of all honest convictions.

The Taliban, however (ironic name - they are “students” of nothing but oppression, ignorance and brutality) represent the very worst of anything that Islam has to offer. While nowhere near as significant as the innocent lives they have wasted, the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan stands as an icon of their barbarism.

Fortunately, it appears that the people of Afghanistan themselves are growing tired of the bullying and oppression. Even kleptocracies can evolve, but ideologically-driven fanaticism mixed with bucolic ignorance cannot.

In the cartoon, the older generation finally takes the younger generation seriously enough to talk to him, and what is the younger generation doing? He’s tuning out.

That is why the people of America get screwed over and over. That is also why Multi-Billion-Dollar Corporations have so much influence on our government: They don’t have new “generations” to educate. Corporations are eternal. Business as usual. Prop up the Kleptocracy here and abroad.

A CIA station chief, I believe it was Cofer Black, said of the Afghans, “If you have 2 Afghans standing on a corner, you have 3 factions represented”.

Can anyone give me two differences between the Taliban and the American evangelical movement?

Anyone? Anyone?

I didn’t think that you could.

I really hope the comparison of Afghanistan to Vietnam is wrong: a Democratic administration refusing to take all necessary action to win, leading to public disillusionment with the entire effort, leading to defeatism at home, requiring a Republican administration to get us out. Come to think of it, that’s also Korea.

I was recently reading about the “Highland Clearances” of Scotland, when the power of the feudal Gaelic clans was broken by advancing technology and English power in the 18th and 19th centuries. Seems rather like Afghanistan today. But I don’t recommend the same method since we don’t want Afghanis emigrating to Canada, the U.S., and Australia like the Scots (not to mention the human rights issue).

BobMcK: Obama actually campaigned that Afghanistan was the war we needed to fight, the one W took his eye off of to go on ‘Dick and Dubya’s Excellent Iranian Adventure’. Could be Obama didn’t want to look too dove-ish to the electorate, or could be he wants us in Afghanistan long-term because it makes it much easier to go into Pakistan if necessary. (Just speculating.)

D-oh, I mean ‘Iraqi Adventure’, of course.

iamthelorax: “I’m surprised Trudeau would try to paint the Taliban as some kind of freedom fighter.” Nothing wrong with that; freedom is a matter of perspecitve. The Taliban wants the freedom to run their country by their rules. Conversely, the USA’s Founding Fathers were a collection of seditionists, from the English point of view.

pschearer: Saying that the Republican Nixon Administration got the US out of Vietnam wholly glosses over the part where he made it worse.

To kat827618: While there may be a lot of younger people out there who are unconcerned with current affairs, this generalization does not apply to everyone. I am 16 years old, and I am beginning to actively try to understand what’s happening in the world. Although, I am having a very hard time with that. You are right in thinking that some members of the younger generation are ignorant; they are. But part of that problem stems from the way we are taught: in my U.S. history class last year we spent three months studying the constitution and nothing else, but we covered the time period of the 1950’s- present in about three weeks. We almost completely glossed over Korea and Vietnam. Many high school students are forced to either teach themselves history with little or no help, or ignore it completely in order to focus on other things in their life. (Because with extracurricular activities, AP classes, and family problems, there is often little free time left.) This is part of the reason that so many younger people today don’t understand what’s happening: it’s hard to follow current events when you can’t even figure out what led up to them. But, please recognize that there are some of us out there who are trying to catch up. (Sorry to take up this much time and comment space, folks, but I just thought it needed to be said.)

@missskeeterwest: i believe that what you said does need to be said, and commend those (of all ages) who try to learn about the background of things and not just the “sound bites.”

ronebofh: As reluctant as I am to say anything good about Richard Nixon, there is no question that it was his administration that ended our Vietnam involvement.

I remember when he sent B-52s against Hanoi and the Left went berserk, claiming that Nixon had gone insane. In one day in Hanoi we destroyed their airport control tower, the city water pumping works, and the railroad marshalling yards. My thought was what a crime that the U.S. had been at war for eight years with a third-world country like North Vietnam and they still had three targets left. (That is what I meant by Democratic administrations unwilling to win.) Once the North realized they faced someone willing to bring the war to THEM, they finally stopped haggling over the shape of the negotiating table and began talking seriously. Unfortunately it was for the purpose of negotiating our defeat and the surrender of the South to the North’s dictatorship.

(Don’t think I’m defending Republicans. America deserves better than either party has to offer.)

As for Afghanistan, we need to deny it as a homeland for Islamic totalitarianism that slaughters Americans en masse. But even if that is achievable, it is not enough. I don’t know what the solution is, but I know it won’t come from Obama.

The Taliban are not nationalist, they are Islamic fundamentalist. Which means they must convert the whole world to Islam as required by the Quran.

And in August 2021 it is agreed that the war was unwinnable.

Only took 12 more years!