No, I am not talking about Obama here.
Name any recent president.
The five who preceded him -- Carter, Reagan, G.W. Bush, Clinton, and W -- were all actively or passively complicit in the deaths of many human beings who once lived in the Middle East.
Jimmy Carter, with help from Zbigniew Brezinski, began to arm the "Islamic Freedom Fighters" against the Soviets, who would eventually help to spawn both Al Qaeda and the Taliban
Remember the Iran-Iraq war, in which a million lost their lives? -- part of Reagan's strategy, as was continued arming of the Mujahideen.
The First Iraq War -- a component of G.W. Bush's Middle East strategy, with Saddam's help.
The Iraqi Embargo -- tens of thousands, maybe more, children died because of it -- part of Bill Clinton's Middle East Strategy.
And, of course, there is no need to discuss W's contribution to the debacle.
Maybe I'm not very forgiving, but if I owned a ceramics store located next to a children's clothing store, I'd have a sign at the door, for parents:
"IF YOU OR YOUR CHILD BREAK IT, YOU OWN IT."
We've done a lot to break Afghanistan.
With lots of help from other countries, and from elements of its own population.
We have at least some responsibility to help fix it.
More below.
No, America is not the only nation who has helped to break Afghanistan.
The Islamic Conquest of the region in the early seventh century may have begun the breakage. Or maybe it was inherent in the area, even before that.
The Mongol Invasion of the early thirteenth century may have helped set the stage for the "Warlord" system of governance.
The colonialism of the British and their "Great Game" were crucial components.
Internal politics, such as the cousin-against-cousin coup of 1973, contributed greatly, as did the April Revolution of 1978. (Good short article on recent history: http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
There is lots of blame to go around.
However, in the ceramic store analogy, rather than blame the kids clothing store for moving in next to my ceramic store, rather than blaming Dr. Spock or the Lib'ruls for creating a generation of kids that don't listen to when their parents say "Don't touch that!" -- I'd expect the parent of the kid who last held the soup tureen to pay for it after it hit the floor and shattered.
I don't think it is unfair to say that We Americans are the last ones to allow the bowl to be dropped.
To me, that rules out "just walking away and letting the shards fall where they may."
That's just not being responsible.
So what about Obama, and his plan?
I am not sure -- I wish that I was, but I am not, at all -- that President Obama's strategy for Afghanistan will "work." (I'm not really sure what that "plan" even is.)
By "work," I mean a reasonably stable Afghanistan with the basic needs of most of the populace met. In a place like Afghanistan has been, that's asking a lot. We can't even do a very good job of that here, on our own turf.
My personal preference would be to go about it more as Greg Mortenson describes in his book "Three Cups of Tea." Meet the people of Afghanistan where they are, and help them.
http://www.threecupsoftea.com/
This, of course, would involve studying and understanding Afghan area history and culture, as does any sane approach to international intervention in any country or region.
I'd suggest using multi-national forces, with lots of Islamic nations represented, to stabilize and re-build.
And to go after whatever remnants of Al Queda remain in Afghanistan, in such a way as to minimize if not eliminate the "collateral damage" that inevitably results in "blowback."
Figure out what to do about Pakistan. (See Above.) (???)
Maybe create a sane world-wide drug policy, with maintenance therapy of some sort for existing opiate addicts, and utilize the poppy fields in an organized manner to provide their approved daily fixes. By taking some of the money out of the equation, this would help to reduce corruption.
What else? Empowerment and education of women as is compatible with the culture as it is now, with an eye towards making it more egalitarian.
Via micro-loans, helping to cultivate an emerging Capitalist class and ethos?
Other?
But -- and I'm sorry if you disagree -- but I don't think it is responsible, safe, politically prudent, or ethical to just bail out of Afghanistan.
What do you think? I'm sure that at least a few of you will tell me...
I have limited computer time and access today, so I may take a while to comment -- and that's assuming that I can brave the flames from all directions!